


Mind's Eye

by HeroR



Series: Luffy's Mind Series [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Mind Control, Mind Rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-10
Updated: 2013-03-10
Packaged: 2017-12-04 21:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 72,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/715116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeroR/pseuds/HeroR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was supposed to be routine stop at an island. Now, the Strawhats find themselves fighting for their lives and freedom against an opponent that knows them all too well. How do you fight an enemy who can turn your own friends against you?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cannibals?

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea I had in my mind for awhile and I finally decided to put it on paper. This will be my first real One Piece fanfic, so please be gentle.
> 
> As an early note, I will be using mostly the Funimation's attack names and I won't be using japanese terms like nakama in my story. This has to do with the fact that I do not like when people don't translate certain words just because they think it sounds cool or special. Especially words that do have an english translation and isn't part of a character's personality, like Robin using a mix of spanish and french in her attack names. The only person who will be using a japanese term will be Sanji when he is addressing Nami and Robin. In my opinion, there isn't a good substitute word for his nicknames for them in english.
> 
> Spoilers: This story takes place after the events of Thriller Bark, but it will have some information from Marineford and Post War events.

 "Island, there's an island up ahead!" Luffy shouted in excitement.

Nami looked over the side of the ship to observe the island they were approaching. From the distance, it didn't look to be that big and there didn't seem to be any major structures or harbors. "Looks like it could be none inhabitant."

"Knowing our luck, it probably would have been man-eating natives anyway," Zoro said in bored tone as he yawned loudly. He was leaning against the ship's mast and didn't even bother to look at the island.

"Man-eater!" Chopper exclaimed in fear.

"There are some cultures that sees human flesh as a delicacy," Robin remarked as she put down her book. "Cannibalism is also seen as a religious practice in some areas here on the Grand Line."

"REALLY!?" Chopper squealed in even more terror. The little reindeer always had a fear of being eaten. It was a mixture of his inborn animal survival instincts and the fact that two of his crewmates actually attempted to eat him when they first met.

"Don't worry Chopper," Usopp said as he put his hand on his chest. "I, the brave warrior of the sea, shall protect you from any fearsome natives, cannibal or not. Why, I even fought off..."

"Bro, you would be one of the first ones running if you see any natives," Franky pointed out offhandedly, causing Usopp's chest to deflate.

"I wonder if they have any good meat on the island?" Luffy pondered out loud, seemingly unaware of the current conversation.

"How can you even ask that!?" Chopper yelled in horror.

"I agree, human meat taste terrible and isn't healthy at all," Sanji remarked as he blow some smoke.

Robin looked towards the cook. "It sounds like you are speaking from personal experience."

Sanji turned his head away. Even after all these years, he still felt guilty about what happened to that shitty old geezer.

Brook began to laugh. "Well, it's a good thing I have no flesh for anyone to feast on."

"Anyway, looks like we'll reach the island within another hour," Nami said, chosen to ignore the stupid banter. She was lucky that she had already had lunch.

"Alright!" Luffy yelled as he ran towards the kitchen. "Sanji, get a pirate lunch ready!"

"Keep away from my kitchen you rubber bastard!" Sanji yelled before he kicked his captain away from the gallery.

After over an hour had passed, the small pirate ship reached the island without incident. A dense forest covered the island and they could hear the sounds of wildlife in the air. It was obvious a spring island given the warm weather and cool breeze.

"Okay, lets divide into teams," Nami said as she rounded up the crew. "Franky, you will come with me and help survey the island."

Franky nodded his head. "No prob, sis."

"Sanji, you'll go with Robin and gathered food and other supplies we may need," Nami continued down the line

This put Sanji in a very happy mood. "As you wish, Nami-swan. I will protect Robin-chan with my life."

"We're not that lucky," Zoro muttered under his breath.

Nami then looked over the remaining of the crew. "The rest of you idiots, just stay out of trouble until we leave."

Both Usopp and Chopper sighed in relief. They didn't want to step foot off of the ship after the entire cannibal talk. Zoro was equally please with the current arrangement since he could now nap without doing that witch's bidding.

Brook began to laugh. "I see no problem with that request." He could always amuse his remaining crewmates with a song.

"I'm going off exploring," Luffy suddenly exclaimed, ignoring Nami's orders, as he jumped off the Sunny.

"Luffy!" Nami called too late to reached her captain. "I swear...Zoro go after that moron."

"Me!?" Zoro exclaimed just as he was about to settle back to sleep.

"Just keep him out of trouble," Nami ordered. "If there are people on this island, we don't need Luffy causing trouble."

"Do it yourself, witch," Zoro growled in annoyance.

"Don't call Nami-swan a witch you barbarian," Sanji growled as he kicked Zoro in the ribs.

This caught Zoro off-guard, but he immediately stood up to regain his honor. "Try that again, pervert cook."

"Knocked it off you two!" Nami yelled as she punched both of them in the heads. "Zoro, if you don't go, I'll raise your debt again."

Zoro muttered something under his breath. He really needed to pay that devil off. "I look forward to the day you go back to hell."

Nami smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Zoro."

With another cuss under his breath, he jumped off the ship and began to follow after Luffy. Luckily, it wasn't too hard since the careless boy left a nice trail of destruction behind.

Luffy, however, was still way ahead of the swordsman as he looked around the forest. The trees were so tall that it blocked most of the sun; given the entire forest an eerie look. He could see some wildlife such as deer and rabbits eating the nearby grass. They looked tasty and hoped Sanji would catch some for dinner today.

However, the island was kind of dull and Luffy couldn't find anything to keep him amused for long. After walking around for close to thirty minutes something caught his eye as he reached the end of the forest and came into an open valley. To his surprise there were several stone buildings that looked like fairly new construction. It seemed Nami was wrong when she said that the island was none inhabitant.

With his curiosity getting the best of him, he went deeper into the town and began to explore. It didn't take him long to find several people working around the buildings and carrying large wooden boxes. Some were even holding guns. They looked more liked marines than ordinary townspeople, but they lacked the uniform.

"Hi!" Luffy greeted loudly. Everyone stopped as they looked at him.

"Who are you?" one of the people demanded as he pointed his gun at Luffy's head.

Luffy crossed his arms. "I'm Luffy, a pirate."

"Pirate, out here?" one of the people repeated.

"It can't be helped since we're so close to the Red Line," another person said. "It's still bad luck, however, that he found this place."

"What are we do with him?" one of the people asked.

"Even though he isn't part of the government, it's too soon for anyone to learn of our master's plan," the other man said.

"Then we must dispose of him and everyone else with him," another person concluded.

Luffy blinked in confusion. "What..." Before he could ask anything several of the town's people began to shot at him. Even though he was caught by surprise, Luffy was easily able to dodge the bullets. He then quickly charged forward and punched several of his attackers in the face.

One of the townspeople managed to sneak behind Luffy and shot him point blank in the head. His head shot forward and stretched for several inches.

"That won't work," Luffy grinned as he twisted his head towards his attacker. "I'm made of rubber."

"He's a Devil Fruit user!" the man exclaimed in shock.

"Gum Gum Bell!" Luffy yelled as his neck snapped back and slammed into the gunman's face, knocking out several teeth.

This hardly slowed down several other attackers who attempted to charge Luffy, this time using swords and knives since bullets wouldn't work. None of them were a match for Luffy, however, and the battle was over within a few seconds. Luffy looked around at the unconscious townspeople who lay around him in a small circle.

"What just happened?" Luffy asked as he rubbed his head. The closest he could figure, the people were afraid of pirates and therefore attacked him. It made sense since he was by all means supposed to be a villain.

Nonetheless, all this fighting made him hungry and he decided to see if there was a restaurant nearby.

* * *

On the other side of the island, Zoro was lost somewhere in the forest. He had lost Luffy's trail hours ago and was currently walking in circles.

"I could have sworn I passed this tree already," Zoro muttered dryly. Everything in the forest looked the same it was really starting to piss him off. It didn't help that everything was dark around here because of the trees. This was all Luffy's fault for getting himself lost.

Before he could fully contemplate his situation, a noise caught his ear. He instinctually unsheathed his sword and pointed it at one of the nearby trees. "Come out, I know you're there."

There was a long paused before someone moved into Zoro's line of sight. To his surprise, the person turned out to be a young woman. She was about average size with long black hair and piecing blue eyes. She was also fairly tall since she was about eye level with Zoro. Despite her height, however, she looked no more than eighteen years old going by her face.

"You have good senses," the girl complemented. "Normally, no one would had noticed me even at this distance."

"Who are you?" Zoro demanded.

"I don't have to answer you," the girl said as she pulled out two long knives. "I don't know what business you have on this island, but now that you have seen me, I can't afford to let you live. Nor can I allow him to get his hands on anther person. It's nothing personal."

Zoro stared at her blankly. "Him?"

"If you made it this far into the Grandline, you and those who travels with you must be fairly competence. If they find you, he can add more powerful warriors to his ranks. I won't allow that," the woman said.

"Lady, I have no idea what you are babbling about," Zoro said as he moved into fighting position. "But if you want to fight, then be prepare to lay down your life."

* * *

Luffy was getting more than a little frustrated that he couldn't find a restaurant anywhere in the village. Instead, he kept running into more people who wanted to kill him. "Man, what's up with this town?"

Luffy's head jerked up just in time to see a huge beast about to pounce on him. He barely had time to move out of the way as a catlike creature nearly took his arm. Once he was a safe distance from the beast he turned around to see what had attacked him. A huge lion with whitish-orange fur and a huge mane with piercing golden eyes glared back at him.

"What's a lion doing here?" Luffy asked. It was a little smaller than the one that was on Buggy's crew, but Luffy knew it was far more dangerous. He hadn't felt a beast this powerful since he left home.

"You're rusty, Timber," a man with a long sword said as he approached the duo at a brisk paced. He had dark gray hair and bluish gray eyes with a small beard. "You didn't even scratch him."

The lion growled in responded.

Luffy looked between the two. "Who are you people?"

"That isn't any concert of yours," the swordsman said as he grabbed the sheath of his sword and loosen his blade from it. "You came to this island at the wrong time. Now, you and the others you have brought with you will have to die."

Luffy's eyes narrowed. No one threatened his crew. "Gum Gum..."

Before he could finish the attack, the swordsman was on him and nearly took his head. Luffy evaded the sword slash and he attempted to kick the man. The swordsman, however, was able to easily sidestep the kick. He then thrust his sword into Luffy's midsection, which barely had time to jump back.

"You're very agile," the swordsman noted.

Luffy smiled. "You're not too bad yourself, old man."

"It's ashamed that such talent must be wasted," the swordsman said. "If the master had the time, you would make a worthy vessel."

Luffy titled his head in confusion "Vessel?"

"Well, you have been causing some trouble around here," a voice suddenly said from behind Luffy.

Luffy turned around to see a man with a purple robe casually walking towards him. A hood mostly covered his face, but Luffy could still tell that the man had very pale skin. What really made him stand out, however, was his amber left eye.

Luffy didn't know why, but seeing this man caused his hair to stand out. Something told Luffy that this man was very dangerous despite how fragile he looked.

The lion bowed and the swordsman bowed before the man.

"Master, we can handle this intruder," the swordsman said humbly. "There is no need for you to be involve with this pirate."

"Hey, are you the chief of this village?" Luffy asked, completely ignoring the other man now.

"Don't you dare speak to the master like that!" the swordsman exclaimed.

"There is no need to be angry," the man said calmly. "It is to be expected from a savage pirate."

"Master," the swordsman said in understanding as his master walked passed him to addressed Luffy.

"Yes, I am the leader of this group," the man said nonchalantly. "And you are intruding on my island."

"We didn't come to cause harm," Luffy said, watching the man closely. Something about this man was making him nervous.

"Regardless, I need you to forget everything you have seen here," the man said as his right eye suddenly became visible.

The man's right eye then began to glow a blood red and Luffy could feel his thoughts beginning to fade. It felt like he was being pieced to his very being and his mind felt like it was on fire. Luffy, however, couldn't look away no matter how hard he tried. Soon, he felt his world go black.


	2. The Mysterious Woman

Zoro grunted as he parried another attack from the woman. She was much better than he had expected and so far she had managed to dodge some of his best attacks. It didn't help his wounds that his wounds from Thriller Bark were still slowing him down. He was already pushed to the point of exhausting from the short fight. It was more than a little frustrating since this fight would have been over minutes ago if he was at full strength.

"I expected a bit more from you," the woman said neutrally. "Maybe I overestimated your abilities."

"This fight isn't over yet," Zoro sneered as he charged in for another attack, but his thrust was deflected by one of her knives and his chest was left wide opened. He was able to pull back at the last second to keep the woman from piercing his heart. Nonetheless, Zoro was still left at a huge disadvantage since he was now unbalanced and was in no position to counter-attack.

The woman smirked as she moved in to finish off the swordsman when suddenly a bunch of arms bloomed from under her and tripped her. Without any warning, the woman fell ungracefully unto the forest's floor.

Zoro looked up to see Robin standing nearby with her arms cross. Sanji was also with her, to his eternal annoyance.

"You still don't know how to treat a lady, huh moss head," Sanji mocked.

"Save it, eyebrow," Zoro growled as he stood up, taking several deep breaths. He was more upset at his current weaken state. That woman shouldn't have been able to beat him. Being saved by his crewmates were just salt to the wound.

"Damn, I didn't expect there to more of you nearby," the woman said as she stood up. She then glare at Robin. "I got careless."

Robin said nothing, but kept her arms crossed.

"Tell me, what did that uncouth jackass do to upset you," Sanji asked as he walked up the woman and held out his hand.

The woman was taken completely off-guard by the gesture before she slapped his hand away. "I won't fall for such an old trick." She readies her knives again.

"Trick?" Sanji asked in a hurt voice. "No, no, you have it all wrong. I would never harm a lady."

Zoro snorted in disgust. "Save the sex talk, love cook."

Sanji quickly turned around to face Zoro. "What was that, shitty swordsman? It was most likely your ugly mug that scared this poor young lady."

"You want to fight!" Zoro exclaimed as he raised his swords to his rival. Within a few seconds, they were both sparring with each as the woman looked on in confusion. They had completely forgotten about her.

"What...what just happen?" she muttered as she watched the two men fight. After a few seconds, she sighed and put away her weapon. "How stupid. I can't believe I even considered Zizu wanting them."

"You have to excuse my crewmates. They tend to get very passionate," Robin said in a friendly tone, but she still kept her arms crossed. "But I must ask, who is Zizu."

The woman turned her head away from the fighting and looked towards the older woman. "Why would that concern you?"

Robin shrugged. "From what I can surmise, this has all been a big misunderstanding. We are part of a pirate crew known as the Strawhats. We have no association with this island before now."

"Pirates?" the woman repeated before nodding in understanding. "I see. However, I didn't attack your crewmate because I thought he was with Zizu."

By this time, Sanji and Zoro had finally stopped fighting and had gotten back to the problem at hand.

"Yeah, you said some strange stuff about someone wanting us," Zoro stated.

"It doesn't matter," the woman said coldly. "And if you were smart, you would leave this island as soon as possible."

"You're so sweet to be concern about us," Sanji said in his usual lovesick voice. His body seemed to morph into a noodle like form.

"Moron," Zoro muttered.

"Is there something wrong with this island?" Robin asked, ignoring Sanji.

"There is nothing hazardous about the island itself, but a very dangerous man currently resides here," the woman said in a solemn voice. Her hands also began to shake lightly.

Robin knew all too well that the woman was recalling a very painful memory.

"As I told your swordsman, if you made it this far on the Grand Line, I can only conclude that you're not an ordinary band of pirates. However, your power will only serve to make you more desirable," the woman said slowly.

"Desirable?" Zoro repeated. "So, is this man some kind of bounty hunter?"

"I've already said too much," the woman said as she shook her head. "Please, find your remaining crewmates and leave this place before it's too late." She then turned around and began to leave. "If you don't, then you will all experience a fate worse than death."

"Wait, can you at least tell me your name, my sweet flower?" Sanji asked.

The woman paused for a moment in thought. "It's Ivy." With that she disappeared into the forest.

"Ivy, what a beautiful and delicate name. Indeed worthy of such a lovely lady," Sanji all but cooed.

"You're really starting to make me sick, dart board," Zoro said as he sheathed his swords.

"Zizu, I have never heard that name," Robin muttered mostly to herself.

"I wonder what is supposed to be so dangerous about him," Sanji said in a he took a long drag of his cigarette before he knocked off some of the ashes. "If he is a bounty hunter, he must be fairly tough to work this deep in the Grandline."

Robin nodded. "Most likely."

"Do you think we should take her advice?" Sanji asked.

"Only the captain can decide that," Zoro said matter-of-factly. "That is, if we can find our moronic captain. I lost track of that idiot awhile ago."

Sanji rolled his eyes. "I swear, how did you fail in such a simple task. Can you do anything besides raise the anchor?"

"Why you..." Zoro growled as he prepared to take out his swords again.

"For now, let's return to the ship. I doubt we will learn anything more here," Robin interrupted. "We should also inform the others of what has happened."

"You always have the right answers, Robin-chwan," Sanji cooed sweetly.

Zoro was beyond commenting at this point.

Once everything was settled, the small pirate band began their walk back to the ship. It didn't take them long to reach the Thousand Sunny. In fact, Zoro was a little embarrassed to learn that he had only been fifteen minutes away from the ship after he had walked around that forest for over an hour. He hoped that witch Nami never learned about this. He would never hear the end of it.

"Hey, you guys are back already!" Chopper yelled as he lower the ladder.

Usopp was working on one of his inventions as he looked over to the reindeer. "Well, it sure didn't take you long to gather supplies."

"Has Nami and Franky returned?" Robin asked as they climbed aboard the ship.

"No and they shouldn't be back until dinner time," Usopp answered. He knew from personal experience that it could take Nami hours just to do one map. "Did something happen?"

"We ran into some crazy knife wielding girl in the forest," Zoro answered bluntly.

"Take that back!" Sanji yelled. "Ivy wasn't crazy."

"Ivy?" Usopp questioned in confusion.

"It would appear that there are people on this island," Robin answered as she retold everything that has happened.

"So, there's some kind of powerful man on this island?" Chopper asked in worry. Why couldn't any of their stops be easy?

"That appears to be the case, but that woman would not tell us who he is or what he wanted from this island," Robin said. "The only real information we have gained about him is that we would be desirable."

"Desirable? Sounds like a bounty hunter," Usopp observed with fear in his voice.

Brook tapped his head in thought. "But why would a bounty hunter inhabitant such an isolated island? At least in my day, bounty hunters usually laid in wait in big cities where all the big name pirates converge."

"We are close to the Redline where all pirates will eventually met up," Chopper said. "Maybe this is some kind of trap like Thriller Bark."

"I highly doubt that," Robin answered as she put her hand on her chin. "This island isn't on a normal track and most crews would miss it all together."

"This is all so confusion," Chopper moaned as he put his head down. "What do we do?"

"For now, we can only wait for Luffy to return," Robin said. "Then we can plan out next move."

Usopp's eyes widened in realization. "If there is someone terrible out there, then the crew members who are still on the island are in danger."

Sanji's eyes also widened. "Nami-san could be in danger! Next to Robin-chan, she is the most desirable person on the crew!" he exclaimed in a panic.

Usopp stared at Sanji for a moment. "What about Luffy and Franky?"

"Who cares about those shit heads," Sanji said dismissively.

Usopp sweat dropped. "You're so cold."

"Maybe we should go look for them," Brook suggested.

"Better not. This island is fairly big and there's no telling where Nami, Franky, and Luffy are," Zoro said. "It's better for us to stay here and wait for them."

Robin nodded her head. "I agree with Zoro."

Usopp gave a heavy sigh. "I hope they're okay."

* * *

 

Nami took several charts of their location as she sat near the edge of the island. The breeze off the cool water below them felt wonderful against her skin. Franky stood nearby as he attempted to amuse himself by looking at the different plant life in the area. He has never been much of a nature person. He was too much of a city boy to care about the 'great' outdoors.

"How long are you going to take, sis?" Frank asked impatiently. They have been here for almost two hours and he was bored out of his mind. He hated being on map duty.

"It takes time to make a proper map," Nami said, not even bothering to turn around and face him. "You just have to be patient."

Franky gave a loud sigh. "I could be maintaining the ship, building new weapons, or something."

"The ship will still be there," Nami said in annoyance. "Taking a couple of hours to help me isn't killing you."

"Sure, but it doesn't change the fact that this island is boring," Franky complained. "I mean, there's nothing here but forest."

"Is that really a bad thing?" Nami asked. "After everything that has happened, it's good to catch a break." She then paused for a moment. "Since we have entered the Grandline, we have been fighting nearly nonstop."

Franky felt a suddenly pang of guilt. "I'm sorry, sis, I didn't mean to be insensitive."

Nami shook her head and smiled. "I know you didn't. Being a pirate is hectic, which is why I enjoy these kinds of moments. Sitting here drawing maps reminds me why I am out here."

"Hey guys!" a voice yelled out over the forest.

Nami and Franky both turned around to see Luffy waving at them as he ran out of the forest.

"Oh, you finished exploring already and where's Zoro?" Nami asked.

"Yeah and I found something really neat," Luffy said before he realized what her other question was. "What about Zoro? I haven't seen him since I left the ship."

Nami gave a loud annoyed huffed. She was definitely going to increase his debt. "Never mind, what did you find?"

"Oh, it's something really cool," Luffy said, remembering why he was excited. "You have to see it for yourself."

"If you want to show us something for your beetles collection, forget it," Nami said.

Luffy frowned. "What's wrong with my beetles collection?"

"Come on, sis," Franky encouraged. "You could use the break."

"Yeah, and I promise you'll like what you'll see," Luffy said with a wide grin.

Nami's curiosity was peaked. She wanted to finish her charts, but that could wait until later. From her calculations, the log pose won't set until the next day anyway. "Alright then, lead the way," she said as she put her charts away.

Luffy gave a large grin as he led Franky and Nami towards the heart of the island. Before long they were standing right at the edge of the city Luffy found earlier.

"See, isn't it cool!" Luffy asked in excitement.

"What is this place?" Nami asked in awe.

"This place is super," Franky said, equally impressed. "This is very good craftsmanship and it looks only a couple months old."

"You can tell how old the buildings are from this distance?" Nami asked in disbelief.

"I have a keen eye for detail," Franky answered proudly. "You have to in order to build a ship that has thousands of working parts."

"I told you it was cool, but you need to check out the middle it," Luffy said as he practically ran into village.

"Luffy, wait up!" Nami yelled as they ran after him. They lost track of him for a moment before they spotted their captain standing in what appeared to be the town's square.

Luffy seemed oddly blank faced.

"Luffy, are you okay?" Nami asked, not liking Luffy's change in demeanor.

Before they could get too close to their captain, his head suddenly jerk sideways. "There's someone here."

"What?" Nami asked in confusion.

Within seconds a figure jumped from the shadows and nearly decapitated Nami. Luckily, Franky was there to block the fatal blow with his metal arm.

"Too close," Franky muttered as he held his ground against a steel blade. The attacker was almost as tall as him with dark gray hair that was tie into a ponytail.

"You're not a normal man," the attacker said. "Your arm should have been sliced off."

Franky grinned. "Well, I'm far from normal." He then pushed the sword away and attempted to uppercut the swordsman. The swordsman dodged the attack with ease and sidestepped away from the cyborg.

"Don't underestimate me," the swordsman warned with a snapped of his fingers. Within seconds, several more people appeared in the town square. Soon, the small pirate crew was surrounded.

"Where did these people come from?" Luffy asked in confusion. "They weren't here earlier."

Nami glanced at Luffy. The tone of his voice sounded off. It almost sounded like he was lying. That couldn't be right.

"There're here now, bro," Franky said, interrupting Nami's thoughts.

Nami quickly took out her Clima-Tact. She didn't have time to think about their situation. "We have to fight our way through."

Luffy gave a wide grin. "Fine by me."


	3. Explanation

The three Strawhat pirates began to quickly find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer number of their attackers. Not only were there so many of them, but they were also all very strong. Despite Nami doing several Thunderbolt Tempos to try to thin their numbers, their attackers were still able to get back up and fight like nothing had happened. Even Franky was having a hard time keeping up with all the people.

Luffy for his part was attempting to keep the swordsman who attacked Nami from killing the rest of his crew. He was definitely the strongest of the group and he couldn't let him escape no matter what happened.

"You should tell you crew to stand down and surrender peacefully," the swordsman advised. "I suggest you do it before anyone is killed."

"I don't think so," Luffy said with a grin. "Besides, I can't it make it too easy."

The swordsman frowned at Luffy. "I think you maybe taken this too far."

"Dammit, there's no end to them," Franky complained as he blasted several people away with his cannon. "This wouldn't be so annoying if they all weren't so tough to boot."

The swordsman brought his sword eye level as he stared at Luffy. "It's time to end this."

Luffy returned the stare before turning towards his crew "Guys, get ready to run," he ordered. "I can hold them off."

"Don't be ridiculous," Nami scowled. "Not even you can hold off all these people."

"If we don't try something, we'll all get caught," Luffy said firmly. "Go back to the ship and get the others."

Nami stared at Luffy in bewilderment. Luffy rarely orders anyone to get backup, especially if it can lead the enemy back towards the ship.

Before anyone could argue further, however, a knife came out of nowhere and hit the swordsman right in his forearm, causing him to cry in pain. He then ruthlessly grabbed the knife and pulled it from his arm before throwing it to the ground.

"Dammit," the swordsman cussed. "You came sooner than we expected."

Franky looked around in shock. "Who's that?"

"I see, you must be part of that pirate crew," a female voice said. "I guess my warning for all of you came too late."

Ivy then jumped down from her hiding place and picked up her knife from the ground. "You're lucky I was nearby when the fighting started."

Luffy blinked in confusion. "You're….."

"Who are you?" Nami demanded, stopping Luffy mid-sentence.

"For now, let's just say we have a common enemy," Ivy stated.

"Whatever, you came at a super time," Franky said.

The swordsman glared coldly at Ivy. "Master predicted you would somehow follow us here. You always come to cause us trouble."

"I swore that I wouldn't stop hunting Zizu until my dying breath," Ivy said evenly, but everyone could hear the cold fury in her voice. "There isn't any place in this world that I won't follow him."

The swordsman lowered his sword as he turned to face Ivy. "It's not too late. Master still has need of someone of your strength."

Ivy returned the cold glare. "I chose freedom over living as his slave."

"What are you guys talking about?" Luffy asked perplexed.

The swordsman glanced at Luffy. "Our history isn't important right now."

"Get ready to run," Ivy said instead.

"Run?" Luffy repeated.

"There're too many of them for you guys to fight. I don't care how strong you think you are, but these are not your everyday weaklings," Ivy warned as she pulled out several metal spheres.

Luffy said nothing for a moment and gave Ivy a blank stare.

Nami wasn't sure what to make of that looked from Luffy. It was common for Luffy to stare down people as if he was trying to read their thoughts, but this look was somehow different. It almost seemed as if he was waiting for something.

However, as quickly as the look came it was gone and Luffy nodded his head. "Okay, I'll cover you."

"Don't think I'll let any of you get away," the swordsman said as he ran forward.

Luffy jumped forward to intercept him. "Gum Gum Gatling!"

The swordsman saw the attack and was able to dodged most of the quick punches. "A pointless trick!" he exclaimed as he thrust his swords into one of Luffy's hands, causing him to pull back.

"Dammit, that hurt," Luffy whined.

The swordsman attempted to slash Luffy across the stomach, but was stopped by Ivy who held off the sword with one of her knives. They stood there for a moment at a stand still.

"You've gotten better," the swordsman noted.

Ivy gave a grim smile. "I should. I learned from you."

"Perhaps, but you still have a long way to go!" the swordsman exclaimed as he pushed Ivy back.

While all this was happening, the swordsman failed to notice a black cloud over his head until it was too late.

"Thunderbolt Tempo!" Nami yelled as a giant lightning bolt struck the swordsman, causing him to scream in pain.

Ivy looked towards Nami in surprise. "I wondered where that cloud came from."

Nami smiled and then stuck out her tongue.

"Here come more of them!" Franky warned as he shot at their attackers.

Ivy saw this as her chance and threw the metal spheres onto the ground, causing a thick red smoke to cover the area.

"A smokescreen!" one of the people exclaimed.

The swordsman snorted in contempt as he recovered from the lightning strike. "Like this childish trick will work. After….."

He was taken completely by surprise, however, when the smoke suddenly ignited into a giant ball of flames, nearly burning his face off. Several of his men were badly burnt and others just barely managed to get out of the way in time. By the time everything cleared the pirates were long gone.

"Dammit, they got away," one of the other people said.

"They won't get far," another one of them said. "Sahara should be able to easily head them off. Plus, that boy…"

"It's of no concern," the swordsman interrupted calmly as he sheathed his sword. "Master has already called off the attack."

Everyone was stunned for a moment before they all grab their heads and nodded.

The swordsman looked towards the forest with a blank expression. "Master will observe them for the time being. Until further noticed, let's all get back to work. We have a schedule to keep."

"Yes, sir!" everyone yelled.

* * *

 

Further away, Luffy, Nami, Franky, and Ivy were well into the forest as they caught their breath.

"Franky, you idiot," Nami growled as she hit the cyborg upside his head with her Clima-Tact. "What were you thinking using your flame-thrower when we were so close to that smoke."

"Give me a break, sis," Franky whined as he rubbed his now swollen head. "That smokescreen was hardly going to hold them back and I wasn't expecting that smoke to be that flammable."

Ivy leaned heavily against one of the nearby trees. "It was unexpected, but at least we got away."

Luffy gave a hearty laugh. "That was kind of fun."

"You would enjoy that," Nami muttered in annoyance.

"Thanks for the help, but who are you?" Luffy asked, looking towards Ivy.

Ivy gave a heavy sigh. "I'm Ivy. I met some of your other crewmates earlier."

"Even so, why did you help us?" Franky asked. "You said we had a common enemy."

"That isn't important," Ivy said harshly. "I warned your other crewmates to leave this island before he found you. There still might be time for you to escape."

"Escape from who?" Nami asked further.

"Does it really matter?" Ivy asked in frustration. "You have to leave now."

Luffy firmly crossed his arms. "No way, you don't decide the course my crew takes."

"Luffy, maybe she has a point," Nami advised. "I mean, it's not normal for so many powerful people to be on one island. You remembered what happened the last time we didn't take someone's warning."

"Yeah, we went on a cool adventure and we gained a new crewmate who also happens to be a musician," Luffy said neutrally.

"Even so, we were almost condemn to spend the rest of our lives within the Florian Triangle, or killed by a zombie giant using your shadow," Nami stated in mild irritation. "Not to mention I almost got married to some mix animal freak." She shuddered as she remembered that last part. She could still feel that thing licking her.

"But it all worked out," Luffy said.

"That isn't the point!" Nami yelled as she hit Luffy.

Ivy sweat dropped as she watched the exchanged. "What the heck is wrong with this pirate crew?"

Franky rubbed his chin in thought. "I personally would want to know who is behind all of this. Especially since they purposely ambushed us in that village."

Nami looked like she was ready to cry. "Franky, not you too."

Ivy looked between the three of them for several seconds. "If I tell you, will you promise me to leave this island?"

"Depends on what you tell us," Luffy said in a deadpan voice.

Ivy nodded her head before she gave a small sigh. "I supposed that's fair enough."

"Then, let's head back to the ship," Nami sighed, knowing it was pointless to reason with Luffy at this point. "The others would like to know this too."

It took them over an hour before they reached the ship again. Fortunately, they didn't run into any other people along the way.

"Hey, glad to see you guys!" Usopp yelled over the side of the ship. "Some major stuff has happened."

"Not as major as some of the stuff we've seen, bro," Franky answered back as they climbed onto the ship. Everyone was surprise to see Ivy walking right beside them.

"Ivy-san, my mysterious dark-haired sweetheart!" Sanji yelled as he spun around in joy. "I'm so happy to see you again. This must be the work of the treads of destiny."

Ivy just stared at Sanji.

"Ignore him," Nami said as she blushed in embarrassment. "He's like that with anyone that has an XX chromosome."

"Oh, so that's Ivy," Chopper said as he walked up to get a better look at their new visitor.

"You're even more beautiful than Sanji described," Brook said as he walked over to Ivy and gently reached out his hand. "Will you give me the honor of showing my your panties?"

Nami immediately knocked the skeleton swordsman out with a punch to the head. "Don't ask such a stupid question, you pervert!"

Ivy by this time was more than a little disturb. This entire pirate crew was screwed up.

"How did you guys meet up anyway?" Zoro asked his captain, ignoring the current commotion.

"She saved us after we got ambushed by some jerks in this village," Luffy said before he suddenly pouted. "I still could have kicked their asses though."

"Why did you come with our captain to the ship?" Robin questioned. "Have you finally decided to tell us what have been happening on this island?"

"I am only telling you anything so that you'll leave," Ivy said coldly.

"Well, you can tell us everything over dinner," Sanji offered as he lit a cigarette.

Luffy's eyes lit up in joy. "You're the best Sanji! I hope you made a lot of meat!"

After taken a few minutes to settle down, the Strawhats and their visitor all sat at the table in the gallery while Sanji set up the food.

"I guess it's best to starts from the beginning," Ivy said, seeing no reason to delay things any further. "You remember that swordsman you fought in the village?"

This immediately got Zoro's attention. "A swordsman?"

"How could we forget," Franky said as he looked as his metal arm. He could see the dent that guy made. "That guy was super strong."

"His name is Thomas. He is my father," Ivy stated.

"Your father?" Nami repeated in surprise.

Ivy nodded. "Yes, he is a great swordsman who was once the protector of our village. Since he was young, he has single-handedly defended our island from pirates and other threats."

"Sounds like this guy is good," Zoro said with interest. The need to test his skills against this new foe was overwhelming.

"So, this island is your home?" Chopper asked.

Ivy's eyes narrowed. "My home has ceased to exist years ago. It was destroyed by Zizu."

"Who's Zizu?" Usopp asked as fearfully.

"I'm not sure where he came from. All I know is that he's part of some movement that wishes to overthrow the World Government," Ivy stated.

"A Revolutionary," Robin muttered mostly to herself. Did that mean Luffy's father, Dragon, was somehow involved in all of this?

"He came to my home island a little over five years ago looking for powerful warriors to join his cause against the World Government. Somehow, my father's skills as a swordsman had reached outside our island," Ivy explained in a bitter tone. "However, no one wanted to joined his revolution and become a traitor to the world, so we chase him out of town."

"And that's when he destroyed your village?" Zoro asked emotionlessly.

"Don't say that so coldly, you moss head!" Sanji yelled. He was kept from attacking Zoro by Nami's deadly glare.

"Zizu destroyed my home, but he didn't do it by his own hand," Ivy laughed humorlessly.

"What do you mean?" Brook questioned.

"The villagers didn't trust Zizu to be the type to leave peacefully, so they sent my father to murder him," Ivy stated. She had a hint of regret in her voice. "In retrospect it was a dirty thing for us to do, but we all feared that the World Government would punished our island if we did nothing."

Robin nodded in agreement. She had first-hand experience on how ruthless the World Government can be towards those they considered traitors.

Ivy took several deep breaths before continuing, "After three days went by, my father finally returned, but he wasn't himself." By this time Ivy was clenching her hands so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. "That bastard somehow managed to capture my father and used his powers to turn him to his side. He had my father slaughter every, man, woman, and child before burning everything like we were trash."

Nami grasped in horror when she heard this. "Oh God!"

Brook shook his head disbelief. "What a horrible thing to make someone do."

"But you survive," Zoro noted.

"It was only because my mother hid me within a hidden basement inside our house," Ivy said, fighting back tears. "My mother….my mother wasn't as lucky."

Nami knew how that felt as she fought back her own tears.

"Why...why would Zizu make someone do something so terrible?" Chopper asked with tears in his eyes.

"Most likely so no one would report him to the World Government," Robin said, keeping her own emotions under control. "If he is part of the Revolutionary Army, he would have been executed on sight." She then turned her attention back towards Ivy. "What I want to know is how did this Zizu person win over your father. You said something about his powers."

"Maybe a Devil Fruit," Usopp offered.

Ivy shook her head. "It's no Devil Fruit. I don't really understand it myself, but Zizu has a way to hypnotize people and actually enter their minds. With his ability he is able to manipulate memories, feelings, and even loyalties. My father fell under his spell when he went after him and Zizu is now controlling him and the other people in that village like puppets."

"I see, that is why you wanted us to leave," Robin said. "If any of us were captured, our fates would have been the same."

"Zizu collects powerful fighters from across the Grand Line in order to build his army. Whether you're a pirate, marine, or a peaceful villager, it makes no different to him. This just happens to be his base of operations that he started not even three months ago," Ivy stated as she narrowed her eyes.

Franky tapped his fingers together. "So, he has been building this army for awhile now and from what we've seen he has made quite a collection."

"From what you told us, you think this Zizu guy wants to add us to his collection," Zoro stated as he took a swing of sake that he stole from the refrigerator. Sanji was so taken by Ivy's story that he had failed to notice the theft.

"As I told you before, you're no ordinary crew to make it this far into the Grand Line," Ivy said. "All of you would be considered a grand prize, especially since Zizu wishes to move into the New World itself once he has build enough strength. Which is why you must all leave here."

"What about you?" Sanji asked as he looked at the girl. "What do you plan to do here?" Ivy froze and didn't answer the questions so Sanji went on. "If these people are really against the government, you could have easily told the marines what have been happening here and put a stop to everything."

Ivy clenched her hands and lowered her head. "I know that's what I should have done from the start. But...if I do that, my father would be killed as a traitor. My father, despite his actions, is innocent. I can't allow him to die as that man's slave."

"How do you plan to free him?" Chopper asked.

Ivy shook her head. "I'm not sure. All I know is that Zizu's power lies in his right eye. If I could somehow destroy it, maybe it will free my father and the rest of his unwilling victims."

"That's a big risk on an if," Zoro stated neutrally.

"I don't care!" Ivy shouted with more forced that she meant. "I would rather die trying to free my father than to let some stranger who knows nothing about what has been happening kill him."

"Your bravery is to be admire, Miss Ivy," Brook said sympathetically. There was a moment of silence across the room.

"So, what's our next move, Luffy?" Zoro asked as he looked towards his captain. Luffy hadn't said a word since Ivy had begun talking. His hat was over his eyes casting a foreboding dark shadow over the boy's face. It still amazed Zoro how utterly intimidating his captain can be at times.

"We're staying," Luffy finally said after a few more seconds had passed.

Ivy was caught off-guard by the decision. "You said you would leave once you knew everything!"

"I said I would think about it and I decided not to leave," Luffy said with an icy tone. The entire crew was a little unnerved that Luffy would use that tone of voice. That was usually saved for his more fearsome enemies. "We won't be added to that bastard's collection so easily."

Sanji nodded. "It nearly happened to us once already and I won't let it happened again."

"So, it is decided," Robin said casually.

"Fools," Ivy spat angrily. "This has nothing to do with you!"

"It can't be help," Nami said with a small smile. "Once the captain gives an order, we can't back down."

Usopp sighed. "That's just the way he is."

Chopper nodded. "I don't know much about hypnotism, but I will do everything I can to save your father."

Ivy blinked several times in surprise. "Why are you helping me? You're pirates."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this out of pity for you," Luffy said neutrally. "I'm doing this because I can't stand bastards like this Zizu guy who rob others of their freedom."

There was something different in Luffy's tone and everyone in the Strawhats knew that this was something personal.

"Then, we'll be heading to this village soon," Usopp said nervously. He was not looking forward to fighting a town full with strong monsters like Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. He had enough of that at Thriller Bark.

"Then it's settled," Luffy said before he suddenly began to grin. "Now, it's time to eat!"

Sanji rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Yeah, yeah, it's coming."


	4. Nature of the Enemy

Dinner wasn't as wild as usual, but there were more than a few arguments and murder attempts when Luffy continuously stole food from his fellow crewmates.

Ivy watched the screen with a mixture of morbid fascination and disbelief as the rubbery captain of the small pirate crew inhaled food like he hadn't eating in weeks. It was a no brainier guessing what his Devil Fruit powers were given how his stomach kept expanding like an overblown balloon.

The reindeer Zoan user, for some unknown reason, also attempted to eat just as fast as his captain and almost choked to death several times. Luckily for him, the green-haired swordsman was there to pat him on the back to get him to either shallow his food or of cough it back up, which was more that disgusting to watch.

She still hadn't quiet figure out if the crew's doctor was a reindeer that ate a human fruit or a human who ate a reindeer fruit. She supposed it didn't matter as long as he did his job well, although a reindeer doctor would be a little on the strange side.

Even with those two fruit users, the oddest of the bunch had to be the skeleton. She knew he had to be a Devil Fruit user, but she couldn't for the life herself figure out what kind of fruit could change someone into the undead. It wasn't common, even in the Grand Line, to see a walking, talking skeleton that could eat food without it passing right through them. She began to wonder if his powers also kept that Afro on his head.

"Dammit Luffy, that was mines!" Usopp yelled at Luffy as he stretched his arms and stole one of his biscuits right off his plate.

"You shitty captain, at least pretend to have manners when we have a guest!" Sanji yelled as he kicked Luffy's chair off from under him.

Luffy hit his chin on the table and grabbed mouth in pain. "Owwww, I bit my tongue!"

Ivy shook her head and sighed. This really was a messed up and random crew. Only the women on this ship seemed to be halfway normal.

"You'll get use to it after awhile," Nami said in a deadpan voice as she calmly ate her food despite all the chaos.

Ivy finally noticed that despite how rude the captain was to his other crewmembers, he didn't attempt to steal any food from either of the women. Did he fear them? Given how the navigator acted in the forest, she couldn't blame him.

Robin gave a gentle chuckle. "They are a lively bunch."

"That's an understatement," Ivy thought to herself before she got back to the real problem. "How can you guys be so calm after everything I told you?"

"I think it is because we were in a similar situation not too long ago," Robin said, recalling Thriller Bark. It was hard to believe that over a week had passed since they left that nightmarish place. "This time, however, we are much better prepared thanks to your information."

"Very true," Nami said with a small nod.

"But we can always use more information," Robin added seriously. "We need to know everything we can about Zizu and those who serves him. Can you tell us more about how his powers work?"

Ivy lowered her head in thought. "As I said before, I don't fully understand them myself. Somehow, Zizu's power comes from his right eye and he can use it to see and hear everything his slaves do."

"You mean he knows everything through his slaves?" Nami asked in horror.

"As long as they are within his range, yes," Ivy answered. "Even an unassuming child can be brought under his control and used as a spy for his needs. He can even communicate telepathy with his servants."

"What a scary power," Nami muttered, greatly unnerved. "Is there anyway for us to know when someone is under his control?"

"The charges can be very subtle to really dramatic depending on Zizu's needs," Ivy answered. "But the most common trait are glaze eyes."

"Glaze eyes?" Robin repeated in bewilderment.

"There is no other way to describe it," Ivy said as she took a moment to think of a better description. "It's like a piece of that person is missing. Like their true selves are locked away inside a prison within their own minds. But even that is barely noticeable unless you look very closely at person or know them particularly well."

Nami frowned at the information. "So, we may not know who is or isn't under his control right away."

"All you need to know that every person on this island is under Zizu's spell," Ivy stated. "As long as none of your crewmates suddenly disappear for a day or more, you should be safe."

"Do you know exactly how Zizu gains control of his victims?" Robin asked further.

"From what the information I've obtained over the years, once he captures his target he has them restrain somewhere and forces them to look into his cursed eye. Depending on the person it can take several hours to several days before Zizu break into their minds and have access to all their thoughts and memories. From there I'm not completely sure what he does to win their allegiance," Ivy explained.

Robin paused in thought. "So, he can't posses someone just by looking at them for a few minutes."

Ivy nodded her head. "It's impossible for Zizu to break into anyone's mind that fast. He maybe able to do a form of mind and memory manipulation, but he can't actually take control of a person by just staring at them."

Nami bit her lips in worry. "Is there anyway to fight him off?"

"From what I have experience, not really," Ivy said bitterly. "I mean, my father still show signs every now and then that he knows what he's doing is wrong, but he still follows all of Zizu's orders faithfully."

Robin stared at Ivy for a moment. "How do you know all this information if no one has ever broken free?"

Ivy laughed humorlessly. "I've never said no one ever broke free. I said it's nearly impossible to break the spell. From my observations over the years it takes an extremely strong will to even fight Zizu's control. I have only met one person who has actually broken free and he has a lifetime worth of mental scars to show for it. He has been broken so thoroughly that he can't even lift a weapon again."

"I see," Robin said as she leaned into her chair. "I doubt we can turn any of his slaves against him given our current information."

"If it was that easy, I would have beaten him years ago," Ivy said with a note of self-loathing.

"Hey, while you're talking about all of that, tell me about your father," Zoro suddenly spoke up. "You said he's swordsman, right?"

"Zoro..." Nami began to scold.

"Yes, he had no equal in my village, Ivy said with a smile that was full of sadness and pride. "There was no one who could match him with any type of weapon."

Zoro gave a wide smirk. "Sounds like he would be a challenge."

"Don't even think you can stand a chance against him," Ivy almost shouted, catching the rest of the crew's attention. "You could barely stand against me with that ruin body of yours and my father is much stronger than me."

"What do you mean? Zoro isn't ruin. He's going to be the greatest swordsman in the world," Luffy stated with absolute confident as he stuff several more pieces of meat in his mouth.

Sanji looked away, not wanting Luffy to see his guilt. He could also tell that Ivy's words had struck a cord with Zoro. He knew he was barely strong enough to hide how badly he was still injured. Fighting any battle with a competent opponent could lead to his death and that moss head would still be stupid enough to pick a fight with anyone called a swordsman because of his misguided pride.

"Is there any more strong people besides your father?" Usopp asked nervously.

"Most of Zizu's followers came from earlier in the Grand Line or one of the Blue Seas, so they are not that strong. At least compare to me," Ivy said. "However, he does have several people who are extremely dangerous."

"How dangerous?" Usopp asked as he attempted not to quiver.

"Dangerous as they are some of the most powerful people this side of Paradise," Ivy said, causing Usopp to freak out.

"Are they pirates?" Chopper question with the same amount of fear as Usopp.

"Most of them are, but one of them is a marine," Ivy answered.

"A marine?" Franky repeated in disbelief.

"Ivy, maybe it would be easier for you to tell us who these powerful servants are," Robin suggested.

Ivy nodded in agreement. "One of Zizu's strongest slaves is Timber, known as the White Lion by the World Government and is wanted for 140 million belli. He was born here on the Grand Line and has eating the Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Lion as his nickname implies. He was once a ruthless pirate before Zizu turned him."

"The White Lion, I have heard of him," Robin said in she tapped her fingers on the table. "Crocodile himself wanted to recruit him before he suddenly disappeared two years ago. To think such a powerful pirate can be enslaved."

"The next person you have to be aware of is Sahara. She is a fierce redhead woman who was once a Commodore for the marines here on the Grand Line," Ivy continued. "She has a bounty of over 210 million after Zizu forced her to single-handedly kill every marine at her base."

Usopp's mouth fell in shock. "Every marine!"

"Down to the last Ensign," Ivy said coldly, barely hiding her emotions. "The incidence is pretty infamous among the marines."

"How cruel," Chopper muttered. How could a person force someone to murder their own comrades?

"Her ability is that she is able to predict the movements of her opponents before a person can even move and she has super speed to boot," Ivy went on.

"Sounds like mantra from Skypiea," Nami said to herself.

"The last person you need to be wary of is Caisco, The Iron Wall," Ivy stated. "He wears a nearly indestructible armor that covers his entire body and he's incredibly strong. He is more then able to lift at least twenty tons. He is probably Zizu's strongest slave."

"Wow, he is strong!" Chopper exclaimed in awe.

Ivy nodded. "Like Timber, he was once an infamous pirate who wrecked the Grand Line in terror. Unlike Timber, however, he has actually been to the New World. I'm not completely sure why he returned to these seas, but rumor has it that he ran into some bad luck within the New World after a year of sailing. Nonetheless, he's not to be underestimated and he has a bounty of 240 million."

"You said two of these people were former pirates. What happened to their crew? Did Zizu enslave them as well?" Brook asked. There was a hint of dread as he could guess the answer.

Ivy said nothing. "No, he didn't bother to enslave their crews. Although, they may have gotten the better deal, considering."

Zoro stated at Ivy for a moment. "What did Zizu do to them?"

"Like all of Zizu's victims, he had his newly obtained slaves kill them," Ivy stated, her voice becoming as cold as ice.

"The entire crew!?" Brook exclaimed in both anger and disgust.

"I thought you said he wanted to collect powerful warriors," Zoro said.

"Every now and again Zizu will spares some within the crew if they prove to be strong enough for his cause. However, he is generally only interested in the captains," Ivy stated.

"But that still doesn't make much sense," Chopper said. "I mean, why have the entire crew killed?"

"To make sure the captain wouldn't have anything to return to and make them easier to control," Zoro answered for all of them.

"Makes sense," Sanji said in a somber tone. "What's the point of breaking free when you have already killed all your friends and there was nothing you could do to stop it."

"Exactly," Ivy answered. "Zizu is fully aware of how strong the bonds can be within crew. If he took control of an entire crew, there is a higher chance that they could break free as a group. Which is why the captain is only targeted."

"This Zizu guy is a monster," Franky growled as he slammed his hand together. "There's no worst kind of scum than someone who would ruin the lives of countless people and say it's all for a good cause."

"None of that matters," Luffy said sternly. "We'll beat them all and kick Zizu's ass."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They all have heard more than enough to dislike Zizu with a passion. They were, however, also a little afraid of him. One who could force close friends and families to turn on each other and become his willing servants was someone that they could not take lightly.

"Tomorrow then, we'll move in to take this bastard out," Luffy ordered.


	5. Divide and Conquer

Zoro gave a loud yawn as he sat inside the Observatory. So far the night has been calm and he had to fight the urge to sleep. Normally, he wouldn't care so much about falling asleep during watch. He knew it was irresponsible given that one could be attack at any given moment being a pirate, however, he was a light enough sleeper to be aware if anyone snuck aboard the ship or if an enemy ship was nearby.

Despite what some within his crew may think about his sleeping habits, he only slept deeply during the day. There was little need to be completely aware of ones' surroundings if you trusted those around you. He knew his crew could handle most situations without him.

Tonight, however, was different. Not only did powerful enemies surround them, but also one of their opponents could actually turn them against one another. It was very much like Thriller Bark when they fought their zombie counterparts, except this was even more personal. Being forced to serve under anyone against ones' will was a fate worst than death in his eyes and for the first time he felt pity towards his future opponents. If anything, death would be a blessing to them. For him, he would sooner plunge his own sword through his heart than raise his blades against his crew.

"Zoro, you're time is up," the peppy voice of his captain reached his ears.

Zoro turned around in surprise to see Luffy standing by the stairway, smiling at him. "Luffy, it isn't your watch tonight."

"I know, but I traded with Usopp," Luffy answered.

"You willingly traded with someone?" Zoro asked in disbelief. It was nearly impossible to get Luffy to trade with anyone for watch unless they were deathly ill or injured. Luffy hated watch almost as much as he hated skipping a meal.

Luffy shrugged. "I just feel it's my responsibility. We can't take this guy lightly given what his powers can do."

Luffy was being cautious, that was even stranger. He almost tempted to ask if he was sick.

Luffy began to laugh lightly. "You don't have to look at me like that, Zoro. Just go to bed. We have a long day tomorrow."

Zoro nodded and began to make his way down the stairs. He caught Luffy's eyes one last time before he left and noticed that they looked kind of hazy, but given how early it sill was it could easily have been sleep.

He gave another loud yawn and tried not to make himself think about it. But something kept telling him that something was off tonight.

The rest night passed without incident and soon Sanji was up to make everyone breakfast. He decided to make something extra special since everyone would need the boost of energy for today's events. Not to mention he wanted to impressed Ivy-san with his cooking. He was surprise, however, to see Luffy leaving the Observatory.

"What are you doing up there?" Sanji asked. His voice had an edge of annoyance since Luffy being awake at this time of morning meant only one thing.

Luffy gave him a blank look. "Watch."

"It isn't your turn," Sanji said in a deadpan voice.

"I traded," Luffy answered simply.

Sanji blinked several times when he heard that. "You willing switch with someone?"

"Why is everyone acting so surprise?" Luffy pouted.

Sanji lit a cigarette and blew several smoke rings. "Whatever. Just make sure you don't wake up Nami-san, Robin-chan, and Ivy-san."

Luffy just nodded as he went into the men's bathroom to wash up.

Sanji sighed as he quickly walked into the kitchen to clean up the mess Luffy undoubtedly made during an attempted raid. Since this refrigerator had a lock, Luffy haven't been able to raid the refrigerator since they've gotten the Thousand Sunny.

Granted, Luffy could have easily used his monstrous strength to break the lock, even if Franky personally designed it, but he hadn't attempted it even without the threat of death. He supposed that shit head captain had some self-control.

Nonetheless, that still didn't stop Luffy from trying to find other ways around his lock. It was routine at this point that every time Luffy had watch or woke up in the middle of the night, the kitchen was a mess from the attempted break-in.

He had punished Luffy more than a few times for messing up his kitchen, but now he hardly bothered. No matter how fiercely he beat that rubber idiot into submission, it never stopped any of his raids.

So, it had gotten to the point where he just cleaned up the mess and not make a fuss about it. He was more upset that he didn't know ahead of time about the switch in the watch because he would had gotten up earlier otherwise. It usually took around twenty minutes to clean up and he hated having breakfast late for the ladies.

When he entered the kitchen, however, he was more than a little surprise that everything was just as he left it last night. Which meant, Luffy entered the kitchen not once during the night.

Breakfast was more subdued than dinner and Luffy hardly bothered to steal his crew's food. No one was too upset about this, however, since they weren't in the mood to deal with their captain's usual antics. Zoro, on the other hand, kept eyeing his captain several times during the course of the meal that it was enough to catch Robin's attention.

"Are you alright, Zoro?" Robin asked softly, not wanting anyone else to hear their conversation.

Zoro shook his head. "It's nothing."

Robin didn't believe him, but decided not to push the subject. Everyone was already stress enough.

After an hour, breakfast was done and everyone walked up to the deck and prepared to go to the island.

"Do you think someone should stay behind and guard the Sunny?" Franky asked as he looked worriedly over his ship.

"Even if we fail Zizu won't destroy your ship," Ivy remarked. "He can find many other uses for it."

"That doesn't comfort me, lady," Franky said in irritation, not caring for anyone touching his beloved ship except him.

"Alright, looks like we're all ready," Luffy said in his usual excitement.

"I suddenly feel like I have, 'I can't go on this island' disease'," Usopp muttered in fear.

"Get Chopper to give you a shot and get over it," Zoro said harshly. "If these guys are as half as strong as Ivy described, we don't need anyone holding us back."

Usopp winced at those words. It reminded him of how useless he felt back at Water 7.

Nami glared at Zoro. He should know how sensitive Usopp was on these kinds of matters.

"I think the only person we need to look after is you, moss head," Sanji said coldly. He too was annoyed and angry at Zoro's words towards Usopp. He was also settling reminding Zoro about his own weakness. Whether the others knew or acknowledge it, one of their strongest fighters was badly disable.

"Then, let's go," Ivy said as she led the band of pirates towards the forest.

Everyone was on high alert, but everything was peaceful. The day was fairly warm and the sun's rays poured gently through the trees. The birds' chirping in the background completed the serene scene and put most of the crew at ease. It was hard to believe anything bad could happen on such a peaceful morning.

All too soon, however, the outline of the village came into sight, putting everyone back on guard. They were more than surprise, however, to see that the village was completely empty.

"Looks like no one's here," Zoro stated dryly.

"This is just like yesterday," Franky said as he looked around for any movement. "They're most likely hiding in the shadows waiting to ambush us again."

"But they couldn't possibly know we would return here," Chopper said as he sniffed the air. "I also don't smell any people nearby."

"Maybe they're all still asleep," Usopp said hopefully.

"I don't know," Nami said slowly, not really paying attention to Usopp. Something just felt off.

"We should split up," Luffy suddenly said, catching everyone's attention.

"Wow Luffy, you said something intelligent for once," Nami stated, slightly impressed.

Luffy chose to ignore his navigator. "Robin, Nami, Brook, you guys check out the east side. Sanji, Usopp, and Zoro will go to the west. Chopper and Franky will look around here while I go with Ivy up north."

Sanji looked heart broken at the groups' arrangements. "What, why can't I go with the ladies?"

Usopp, however, felt greatly relieved since he was paired with the two monsters.

Brook laughed happily at the arrangement. "Luffy-san, thank you for this chance. I shall protect these two ladies with my life. But I don't really have a life to give since I'm already dead." He began to laugh at his own bad skull joke.

"Can't you guys be serious for just a moment?" Ivy muttered under her breath. She was beginning to wonder if it was such a good idea to team up with these pirates.

Zoro looked at Luffy for a moment, but decided not to say anything. It was odd; Luffy normally split the groups between Sanji and himself. Since they were the strongest, Luffy often gave them the job as unofficial bodyguards to the weaker members. The only time he was usually paired with Sanji was during one of Nami's bothersome shopping trips or when there was no real danger. Nonetheless, it wasn't his place to question his captain. Luffy usually had his reasons.

"You guys know what to do and remember, Zizu is mine," Luffy ordered. "Now, move out!"

The crew went into their groups and began to explore the seemingly abandon town.

Once they were far enough from the other groups, Nami turned towards the older female. "Robin, given what we know of Zizu, do you think he's really a Revolutionary?"

Robin rubbed her chin in thought. "I don't know. There is very little actually known about the Revolutionaries besides them wanting to destroy the World Government. He could, however, be part of a separate branch."

"Maybe Zizu is really a pirate like Moriah and he wants to collects a strong crew," Nami suggested.

"I doubt it given how close we are to the Redline and marine headquarters," Robin stated. "No pirate would willingly start operations here unless they had some plan involving the World Government itself."

"If that true...does that mean Luffy's father consents with what is going on around here?" Nami asked in concern.

"What does Luffy's father have to do with this?" Brook asked. "Also, what exactly is this Revolutionary group?"

"Oh, you wouldn't know," Nami said, forgetting that Brook wasn't with them back at Water 7.

"The Revolutionaries are a group led by Luffy's father, Monkey D. Dragon," Robin explained. "Although no one knows their true motives, their main goal is to overthrow the World Government."

Brook's eyes looked they would had widened, if he still had any. "I never knew Luffy's father was such a powerful man. In my time, not even the strongest pirate crew would have dared to challenge the World Government directly. Luffy's father is either really confident or incredibly foolish."

"If he's anything like his son, it's a little bit of both," Nami said dryly.

"And you also share in your captain's foolishness," a deep booming voice said.

They all stopped in their tracks and looked around for the source of the voice. They didn't have to wait long before a large man walked into their view.

He was a very tall, bulky man who towered over all of them, even Brook who stood almost nine feet tall. His steps were so heavy that they left cracks on the stone street. He was covered head to toe in black and gray armor and a heavy helmet that only showed his piecing green eyes covered his face. In one of his arms he carried a large battle-ax that was almost as tall as him, but he held it with great ease.

"I assume you're Caisco, The Iron Wall," Robin said.

"Indeed, it's good to know my name is still known. It has been awhile since I've caused terror on the seas," Caisco said, his voice seemed to come out as an echo. "Then again, you mostly likely know me from that troublesome brat, Ivy. However, I have to thank her later for given me such easy prey."

"What does Ivy have to do with this?" Brook asked.

Caisco chuckled coldly at them. "There's no point telling the dead." He lifted up his ax and slowly walked towards them.

* * *

 

Chopper and Franky had so far not run into anyone. In fact, it was more than a little unnerving to be exploring what appeared to be a ghost town. Chopper felt grateful that Luffy paired him with Franky. He knew no mattered what happened the cyborg would protect him, especially since he couldn't abuse his Rumble Balls. After Enies Lobby, he had promised Nami to never use Monster Point again.

Still, he felt bad since he have been increasing useless in battle as they moved further into the Grand Line. It was getting to the point that he had to use his Rumble Balls just to keep up with most of their recent enemies. Three minutes simply wasn't enough anymore. It would only get worst once they reached the New World. He really had to consider a work around before then.

"Sheesh, I hate this place," Franky said in annoyance, knocking Chopper out of his musings. "I keep feeling like someone is going to jump out at any moment."

Chopper nodded in agreement.

Chopper had the same unnerving feeling, except he knew something was very wrong. It felt like something have been stalking them for some time. It was his old animal instinct that had long lay dormant since the day he ate the Human Human Fruit. It reminded him of the time when his herd was stalked by a pack of wolves back in Drum.

"Hey, is there something wrong?" Franky asked when he noticed how quiet Chopper has been. Usually, Chopper was quiet the chatterbox.

Chopper suddenly perked up in high alert. "Look out!" he yelled as he changed into his Heavy Point and tackled Franky to the ground. It almost came a second too late as a large mass flew over both of their heads. Chopper could feel the hot breath of what felt like some kind of a wild animal.

"Dammit, what the hell was that!?" Franky exclaimed as he picked himself off the ground.

"I missed," a voice sneered. "It does make sense given you are herd animal."

Chopper immediately stood up and looked towards their attacker. Some distance away from them stood a large lion with whitish-orange fur and a huge mane. Its eyes were a bright gold and it glared down at them, barely containing its bloodthirst.

"I see, you're the former pirate Timber," Franky growled as he dusty himself off. "That wasn't very super, launching a surprise attack like that."

Timber laughed ferociously. "Yes, once upon a time, I was a pirate that sail across the Grand Line looking for bloodshed and war. Now I have a new calling and that calling is telling me to spill your blood."

Franky snorted. "What a ham."

"Franky be careful," Chopper warned. "A Carnivorous Zoan is more predatory and bloodthirsty than others."

Franky didn't have to be reminded twice as he remembered Lucci. Although he doubted that Timber was even half as strong as that leopard bastard. Still, he had to be on guard.

"Now, prepare to be rip apart by my claws!" Timber roared as he ran down to maul the reindeer and cyborg.

* * *

 

Sanji grumbled in annoyance as he stomped across the pave road. How did he get stuck with moss head? He should be with Nami-san and Robin-chan, but no, that shit head captain had to ruin everything. If Luffy weren't his captain, he would beat him to a pulp.

"Stop moping, dart board," Zoro growled in aggravation. "Can't you go a couple of hours without thinking with your other head?"

Usopp gave a loud sigh as he rubbed his head. Zoro and Sanji were good for protection, but they were lousy company. All they did was argued.

Sanji turned towards the swordsman. "Be quiet. What do you know about the joy of female companionship, you barbarian?"

Zoro snorted. "No woman is worth brooding over for that long. Especially when one of them is that witch Nami."

"Nami isn't a witch!" Sanji yelled.

"Yes she is and she should be burn at the stake," Zoro continued to mock.

Usopp had to withhold a chuckle at the thought. It was kind of mean, but Nami did some times acted like the devil. Especially when it came to making deals with her.

Sanji was ready to knock both Zoro and Usopp into the nearest building before he realized that Zoro was trying harder than usual to work his nerves. Something was on his mind and he was using his short-temper to distract himself.

"Okay shitty swordsman, what's wrong with you?" Sanji asked, amused by the surprised look on Zoro's face. "I know you're using me to keep something off your mind."

"Really?" Usopp asked as he looked between the two.

"It's nothing," Zoro muttered. Was he that obvious?

"Like hell!" Sanji yelled. "You've been brooding about it since we've gotten here."

Zoro was silent for a moment. "Do you think it's kind of strange how Luffy chose to split us up? He was also acting kind of odd last night as well."

Sanji raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Like him switching watch with Usopp," Zoro pointed out.

Usopp rubbed his chin. "Now that you mentioned it, that was kind of strange. Maybe Luffy was just being more protected than usual."

Sanji frowned as he remembered the kitchen. "Luffy didn't raid the kitchen at all last night. The last time he didn't try to eat us out of house and home was when Nami-san was sick."

Usopp frowned. "Do you think something's wrong with him?"

Before Zoro could answer, he barely had time to put his swords up to deflect a metal claw hand that attempted to rip his face off.

"Your reflexes are better than I expect," a feminine voice said, deeply impressed.

"Who...who the hell are you!?" Usopp screamed in horror. She literally came out of nowhere.

"Don't greet a woman like that shit head," Sanji growled.

The lady had short red hair that matched her eyes. She looked to be a little smaller than Nami, but she was still well built. Unlike Nami, however, Sanji could see the muscles that came out of her arms and legs along with several scars across her body. She wore what looked like a dark blue business suite with pinstripes.

The woman pulled her hand away and jumped away from the group. Zoro could now clearly see her metal claw that seemed to merge into her left hand and went halfway up her arm.

"Forgive me for my rude introduction. I am Sahara, one of Master Zizu's most loyal servants," Sahara said as she calmly pushed a strain of hair out of her face.

Sanji had hearts in his eyes. "Wow, she's so beautiful."

"Get over it Sanji. She just tried to kill Zoro," Usopp said harshly as he took out his Kabuto.

"Like I care if she try to kill off that shitty swordsman," Sanji said casually.

Zoro growled at the cook.

"I swear, can't you two go five seconds without fighting?" Usopp asked in frustration. Maybe he was safer with one of the other groups. Why couldn't he be paired with Luffy?

"I swear, you boys really have issue," Sahara said with an air of amusement. "Nonetheless, by order of Master Zizu, you all must die here. It's nothing personal."

Zoro glared at the woman. "Just try it lady."

* * *

 

Further ahead, Luffy and Ivy made their way to what looked like some kind of temple near the edge of the city. It stood at least three stories high and was more elegantly built than the rest of the town.

"This must be Zizu's main headquarters. If we can find and defeat him, we can undo some of the damage his cause," Ivy stated.

Luffy nodded his head. "Is this Zizu person actually strong or does he just depends on his eye to control others?"

"I have never seen Zizu fight, but I doubt he has to with all he powerful people he has under his control," Ivy answered.

Luffy just nodded in response.

Ivy suddenly frowned. "Strange, I was expecting some type of resistance. Zizu maybe arrogance, but I can't believe the main compound has no guards. Not to mention, we've seen no sign of Zizu's elite servants."

"Most likely, they have engage in battle with my crew," Luffy said nonchalantly.

Ivy stared at Luffy. "How can you be so sure?"

"I see you have finally return, Ivy," Thomas said as he slowly stepped out of the building, stopping the current conversation. "You really don't know when to give up."

Ivy took out her knives. "You only have yourself to blame for that. I got my stubborn attitude from you."

Thomas smirked. "How about it, Ivy? Why not come into the service of our master. I'm certain he'll forgive you for your past actions. It would be such a waste to let such talent die needlessly."

"Screw that, I have no plans in helping that bastard!" Ivy yelled, as she looked her father right in his eyes. "Just wait a little longer, father. I'm going to break that spell you're under."

"You keep saying that, but I don't want my 'spell' to be broken," Thomas said calmly. "I'm more than happy serving under my true master Zizu and working to destroy the pigs of the World Government. It's all for the greater good."

"I know that isn't really you talking, but Zizu's puppet," Ivy answered coldly. "Until you're back to normal, there is nothing more to talk about."

Thomas' eyes hardened. Ivy couldn't tell if it was from anger or relief. Could it be her father was partly coming through, even now? "Very well. Die in your foolishness."

He unsheathed his sword and charged right into Ivy, who blocked and deflected every swing. She had gotten stronger, but so had her father. It would seem no matter how hard she trained, she was still one stepped behind him.

Ivy looked out of the side of her eye and wondered what the heck Luffy was doing. He just stood there watching their battle with dull interest. Maybe he saw this as her personal fight, but she wasn't anywhere near arrogant enough to think she stood a chance against her father alone.

"Hey, aren't you going to help me out here?" Ivy finally asked once she had gotten Thomas in a standstill.

Luffy shrugged. "You seemed to be handling things just fine at the moment."

"This isn't a game!" Ivy yelled.

Luffy just smiled in response.

Ivy wanted to walk over to the rubber boy and beat some sense into him at that very moment. What the hell was wrong with him?

Thomas quickly grabbed her attention again when he nearly gutted her. "Don't be concern over Strawhat. You have me to deal with."


	6. Mismatched

Nami gave a silent cuss as she dodged the battle-ax that nearly sliced her in half. Things hadn't been going well. Although Caisco was a slow mover, his attacks were ungodly powerful. One swing of his ax sent shockwaves that sent Brook flying off the ground like a kite. She could actually hear the musician's bones crack from the sheer force of the assault. One direct hit from something like that and it would be the end of them.

"Ocho Fleu!" Robin yelled as several arms spouted around Caisco's legs, stopping his from moving further.

Caisco looked down at the limbs in mild amusement. "Just because I'm big doesn't automatically make me clumsy."

"Maybe so, but your movements are now limited," Robin countered as she tightened her hold.

"You think so, woman?" Caisco asked nonchalantly as he took his ax and swung it through the air with such force that a whirlwind of blades nearly cut Robin into piece if she hadn't drive for cover at the last moment. Such a drastic move, however, caused her hands to vanish.

Nami began to spin her Clima-Tact.

Caisco took noticed of her, but was headed off by Brook who attempted to cut into his armor with several fast sword strikes. Each of the swords slashes and thrusts, however, did nothing. It didn't even dent him. If anything, it sounded like it was Brook's sword that was being damage.

"What kind of steel is this?" Brook asked in frustration. He was suddenly reminded of Kuma.

Caisco seemed to smirk at him. "Who ever said it was steel?" He raised his ax to cleave Brook in half.

"Get of the way, Brook!" Nami yelled.

Brook didn't have to be told twice as he ran out of Caisco's attack range. Before he could pursue the skeleton swordsman, he noticed a black cloud hovering a few inches off the ground. He titled his head in confusion as the cloud sparkle with electricity.

He then glanced behind him and saw Nami standing perfectly parallel to the cloud she had just created. Something told Caisco that he was in grave danger. This wasn't the attack he was told to be wary of. If it was, the cloud should be above his head.

"Thunder Lance Tempo!" Nami screamed as a lance of lightning came flying right towards him. He was hit dead on and was knocked backwards by several inches, but he didn't fall. He didn't even bend over.

"That was unexpected," Caisco said with a note of gaiety. "Even I felt that one and it has been a long time since anyone made me feel pain."

"The hell, he barely flinched!" Nami exclaimed in shock. That was her strongest attack that was powerful enough to defeat a CP9 agent.

Caisco raised his ax and slammed it into the ground with enough force to caused the road to fly up. He then swung his ax again and sent the debris barreling towards Nami, nearly hitting her. She was pulled to safety at the last second by Robin's hands, but she was still cut all over her arm and leg.

"Thanks, Robin," Nami called gratefully as she looked down at her now bloody limbs.

"You're all are so nimble," Caisco said, deeply impressed. "But your defeat is inevitable. Surrender peacefully and your deaths shall be painless."

"I died once already and I'm in no hurry to go back to the otherside," Brook said. His face set in determination. "Beside, I have promise to keep to a friend."

"Very well," Caisco stated as he sent another blade of wind through the air.

Brook dodged it and began thrust rapidly. "Polka Remise!"

Caisco took each attack without moving. "Even if you hit the same spot a million times, you couldn't crack my armor unless that flimsy blade of yours is made out of diamond."

Brook didn't give up and pulled his sword back. "Aubade Coup Droit!" The compressed air hit its mark, but still nothing.

Caisco gave a heavy sigh. "I grow bored of you. Die already." He raised his ax over Brook's head. Before he could finish the attack, however, Brook was suddenly lifted into the air by several legs.

Caisco was perplexed for a moment as he watched Brook go higher into the sky. As Caisco looked up he saw another thundercloud forming over his head. At that moment, Caisco understood that the skeleton swordsman's pervious attacks were just a distraction.

Once Brook was over the cloud, he jumped down into it like he was diving into a swimming pool and pointed his sword downward. When he went through the cloud, he was charged with lightning and fall right on top of Caisco's head. The tip of Brook's sword hit his helmet and within seconds, Caisco erupted into electricity again.

Nami held her breath as she watched Brook attempt to embed his sword into Caisco's skull. It was not to be, however, as Brook jumped off and moved away from the armor man. Caisco did not move for several seconds.

"Did it work?" Brook asked in disbelief. No one had the courage to answer. Their hopes were completely dashed when they heard Caisco heavy breathing.

"I must congratulate you," Caisco said as he rubbed his helmet. "Your combination attack was perfect and I would had died if my armor wasn't so well made. But as I stated before, your defeat is inevitable." His eyes seemed to glow as he emphasized his point.

* * *

 

Chopper and Franky weren't doing much better as they barely had time to dodged Timber's ruthless attacks.

"Damn, this guy is fast!" Franky cussed as he attempted to slow him down by blowing his nail gun. Timber graceful dodged each of Franky's attacks and managed to slash Franky across his back, causing him to scream in pain.

"Franky!" Chopper screamed in horror. How did Timber figure out so quickly to hit Franky's back? It was a weakness that only a few were aware of.

"You two are too slow to catch me," Timber mocked pitilessly. "I won't even have to go into my hybrid form."

Chopper clenched his teeth as he considered rather or not he should use his Rumble Balls. He didn't want to be carelessly using them like he did at Enies Lobby. It was because he made such poor used of his Rumble Balls that he was nearly killed and force to use his taboo form. He couldn't allow himself to be pushed to that point again.

The problem was, none of his default forms were particular useful in this battle. If only he could use Scope, he maybe able to find Timber's weakness.

Franky gave another scream of pain as Timber bite into this shoulder. Metal or not, that hurt.

"You bastard, get off!" Franky yelled as he attempted to hit Timber with a Strong Right, but the attack fell short when Timber jumped off of him. "Dammit, I hate fighting speedy bastards. Especially when they're nothing more than an overgrown cat."

Chopper finally had enough and ran into the battle. He went into his Heavy Point and threw a hard right hook, which managed to catch Timber off-guard. He slammed into the ground and Chopper could see blood beginning to run down his nose.

"Super job!" Franky yelled.

Timber growled in annoyance. "Dammit, I got careless. I thought you would be too timid to attack."

"That was your biggest mistake!" Chopper yelled. Upset that he was seen as that weak.

"But I won't make that mistake again," Timber said as he changed his form and went into his hybrid form. He was a little taller than Chopper now and his teeth seemed to have become longer and sharper. "Be honored. This is the first time in two years since I have fought in this form."

"Like I care," Franky said as he attempted to hit Timber with his flame-thrower. Timber quickly dodged the attack and suddenly appeared behind Franky.

"You're still slow," Timber whispered harshly into Franky's ear before he plunge his claws into the cyborg's back.

"FRANKY!" Chopper screamed in horror as Franky cried as he fell forward. Timber still wasn't through as he mercilessly scrapped his claws all over Franky's back, causing blood to spill everywhere.

Chopper ran into the fight to help his friend, but Timber jumped back before Chopper could sucker punch him again. "Franky, are you alright?"

Franky groaned in pain. "Sorry bro, I let my guard down."

Chopper quickly surveyed the damage. There were several deep punctures wounds and at the rate Franky was bleeding, he could easily bleed to death.

"Don't worry," Timber assured mockingly. "You and your entire crew shall all die today."

Chopper froze in fear as Timber approached them. What should he do? If he fight, Franky might die from blood loss. But they were both dead if he didn't do something.

"Don't get cocky, you damn cat," Franky said as he stood back up.

"Don't move!" Chopper yelled in worry. "You could bleed to death with such wounds."

Franky chuckled. "It will take more than claws and teeth to kill me. If I can survive getting hit by a seatrain, I can survive this wuss."

Timber glared at him. "You shouldn't take me lightly, you piece of scrap metal."

"Same with me, kitten!" Franky exclaimed as a panel in his left arm opened. "Beans Left!" He rapidly fired several bean like pallets at Timber.

Timber quickly dodged and sidestepped most of the attacks, but several of the bullets did glaze his body. He turned into his full lion form and ran in to bit down on Franky's neck.

Chopper attempted to punch him again when Timber got close enough. Before he could throw the punch, however, Timber went into his hybrid form and slashed his claws into Chopper's chest, causing him to cry in pain as blood flew everywhere.

"Didn't I say I wouldn't be caught off-guard again," Timber sneered as he kicked Chopper out of the way and then continued his run towards Franky, who was barely standing from blood lost.

* * *

 

Sanji hissed in pain as he nursed a stab wound he received to his shoulder. When Ivy said Sahara had super-speed, she wasn't kidding. She made some of CP9 look slow in comparison. It didn't help that she was undoubtedly using mantra just like those annoying priests from Skypiea and this time he didn't have Luffy around to hold someone down.

Although, even if Luffy was here, that still wouldn't have helped him much. Given that Sahara was a woman, his code wouldn't allow him to touch her. No matter how hard he tried, his body would stop short of touching her and it had gotten to the point where Sahara didn't even bother to dodge or block his attacks.

In fact, she barely paid any attention to him at all since the battle started. It was like she somehow knew since the beginning that he was posed no threat to her.

"Fire Bird Star!" Usopp yelled as a flaming phoenix went soaring towards Sahara, but she easily sidestepped the attack in mid-air and then ran towards the sniper with incredible speed. Usopp didn't even know Sahara was upon him until Zoro seemed to appear out of nowhere and blocked the woman's claws.

This time, however, Sahara was expecting the swordsman's interference and kicked him hard in the ribs, causing bone to crack. Zoro growled in pain as he fell to his side. She moved in to impaled Zoro's heart when Usopp surprise her by hitting her with the end of his Kabuto.

This bought Zoro enough time to roll out of the way and prepare his next technique. "Tatsu Maki!" he yelled as he spun his swords to create a dragon like tornado that headed straight for Sahara.

Sahara appeared to disappear from sight and Zoro gave a loud cry of pain as a claw now went into his stomach. The only thing keeping her hand from going completely through him was the fact he was able to put one of his swords in-between her claws.

"You're weak, Roronoa Zoro," Sahara observed dispassionately. There was, however, a small hint of disappointment in her voice. "I expected more from someone with a your kind of bounty and reputation. Looks like you are all hype, after all."

Those words caused Zoro to winced since only one female in his entire life spoke those words to him.

"Even still, you were somehow able to keep yourself from being completely impaled," Sahara stated as she attempted to push her claws deeper into his abdominal, but Zoro was able to keep her claws still. "Well, I was informed you weren't in your top condition, so I guess this much was to be expected. Still ashamed, however."

Zoro's eyes widened in surprise. How could she know about his weakened condition?

"I got her Zoro. Just hold her still!" Usopp yelled as he took aimed. "Six Chamber Pit-Viper Star!"

Several green explosive went off in the area Sahara was standing, but Usopp hit nothing but air again. Zoro was far too weak to hold Sahara down.

"Damn, what a monster," Usopp muttered in fear.

Sanji growled in annoyance at his own uselessness in this battle. At this rate, they would all be killed. Zoro was in terrible shape and Usopp stood no chance again an opponent like her. Dammit, why couldn't Sahara be a man?

Zoro clutched his wound as blood poured through his fingers, but that wasn't what was bothering him at the moment. There was no way that woman should had known he wasn't in top condition. The only people who should know were his crew, Ivy, and the pirates from Thriller Bark.

There was a possibility that Ivy told them and she wasn't who she said she was, but he highly doubted that. Although he wasn't as good at reading people like Luffy, he sensed no betrayal or dishonesty in Ivy's actions. The hurt in her voice over her father and the fate of her home were all too real. So the question was, how?

As he thought over the question, he attempted to close his bleeding wound when another realization him. The way they were grouped was too contrived. What were the chances of his group running into the lone female who posed a challenge and therefore rendering the love cook all but useless? Not to mention that Usopp's weapons were virtually inadequate against her because of her inhuman speed and her ability to predict their movements. Add that to the fact that he wasn't in any shape to protect either of them and it was the perfect death trap. He briefly wondered if his other crewmates were having similar trouble. He would bet his life that they were.

The enemy couldn't had known how they would have been split up or what the direction they would go once they had entered the town, so how did they plan it so well?

Suddenly, Zoro remembered something important.

"Zizu's power comes from his right eye and he can use it to see and hear everything his slaves do," Ivy said.

Zoro pretended not to be listening as he drunk his sake. His ears perked up, however, when he heard Ivy's words.

"You mean he knows everything through his slaves?" Nami asked in horror and disbelief.

"As long as they are within his range, yes," Ivy answered. "Even an unassuming child can be brought under his control and use as a spy for his needs. He can even communicate telepathy with his servants."

The way Luffy has been acting, the very odd team lineup, could they all be connected? Has Luffy somehow been enslaved by that bastard?

* * *

 

Ivy huffed in exhausting as she parried another attack. She didn't have time for this. She wanted to confront Zizu so she could end this once and for all. But for some reason her backup wasn't, well, backing her up. Right now, Luffy seemed to thinks it was best to just stand there and watched the battle from the sidelines like it was some kind of sport. He wasn't even smiling anymore. He just blankly stared at her. He could at least pretend to be amused.

"You've gotten better, Ivy," Thomas said. "Too bad you wasted your skills on fighting against me and my master."

Ivy growled. "I'm not dead yet!"

"Stand down, Thomas," a deep voice suddenly ordered. "It would be a waste for talent like this to be killed off."

A man in a purple robe came out of the building and he smile politely at Ivy.

"Master Zizu," Thomas said as he bowed before the man.

"Zizu," Ivy hissed with hatred in her voice.

"Ivy, you have come a long way to see your father," Zizu said in a pleasant tone. "Why don't we end all of this and finally join us. I think after all these years of fighting you're ready to be assemble into my army."

"Burn in hell!" Ivy exclaimed. How dare this man mocked her. She got ready to charge the man who had caused her so much pain. She was stopped, however, but an unexpected source. She turned around to find Luffy holding her arm in a firm grip. His eyes were completely covered by his hat, making impossible for her to see the rest of his face.

"I can't allow you to do that, Ivy," Luffy said in a calm voice.

"Luffy, why you're getting involve now?" Ivy asked, not even bothering to hide her annoyance at the boy captain. She then turned away from him. "If this is about you fighting Zizu, the deal's off. I have some unfinished with this bastard." She attempted to pull her arm away from Luffy, but his strong hold remained.

Zizu chuckled. "I'm afraid you will find you coming here has been in vain, my dear."

Ivy suddenly felt Luffy squeezed her arm harder, causing her to fall to her knees in pain. If he squeezed any harder, she was certain that her arm would shatter. "Luffy, what the hell are you..."

She stopped when she finally saw his eyes, no longer shadowed by his hat. They were glazed over and seemed almost unfocused. After fighting Zizu and his brainwash army for so many years it was a look she was all too familiar with.

"No..." she whispered in disbelief.

"You finally figured it out," Zizu said with an air of cruelty as his right eye glowed a bright red. "Strawhat is working for me."


	7. Switch Loyalties

Ivy struggled in the young captain's grip as the Zizu's words began to fully sink in.

"Strawhat's working for you, impossible!" Ivy denied. She briefly wondered how such a thin boy could be so freaking strong. His grip was stronger than steel and it felt like her arm was going to break in half.

"Why deny what your eyes are clearly showing you?" Zizu asked with a note of humor.

"Because there is no way you could have charmed Strawhat that quickly!" Ivy yelled. "These pirates have been on this island for less than a day and for you to control someone they have to be in your possession for at least five hours. There's no way Strawhat was away from his crew for that long."

"Very true, however, Strawhat is far from any normal person," Zizu stated as he tapped his cheek. He had small smile on his face. "Originally, I only wanted to erase his memory of finding this place and convince his crew to leave. I am preparing for a big operation and I didn't need some trash pirates interfering. To my surprise, however, after only a few seconds I was able to enter his mind fully and see his memories."

Ivy's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as she looked at Luffy. Could this boy really be so simple-minded that he had absolutely no defense against Zizu? From what little he had seen of the boy captain, it did seemed highly plausible. Still, it never even occurred to her that someone could be so weak-willed.

Zizu's smile grew larger at he watched the shock go across Ivy's face. "I've heard of the Strawhat pirates who challenged the World Government at Enies Lobby and were rumored to be the ones who really defeated the Warlord, Crocodile. But I didn't even consider that such a small crew would make it this close to the New World."

"Which is why you enslaved him. Just like every other poor soul on this island," Ivy growled as Luffy pushed her down further.

Zizu snorted. "Poor soul you say? Have you forgotten that most of these people were murderous pirates and dogs from the World Government? I'm doing them a favor by making them use their skills for something that will benefice the world."

"A pirate or a marine are better than whatever the hell you are," Ivy spat. "You have stolen countless lives for your 'greater' good. You and others within the group are nothing but thugs."

Zizu sighed. "You lack vision. You can't see how you're nothing but a pawn to the World Government. However, I will soon open your eyes."

Ivy lowered her eyes for a moment. "This big operation. It has something to do with the marines gathering at Marineford."

"Very good, so you do keep up with current affairs," Zizu chuckled. "With the whole of the World Government's forces gathering in one place, this is our chance to give the government a mortal wound."

"What are you up to?" Ivy demanded.

"You will know everything once you've joined us," Zizu said.

"You bastard," Ivy sneered.

"Master, what has happened to my crew?" Luffy suddenly asked.

Ivy winced inwardly and it wasn't from her physical discomfort. It felt very wrong for this boy to call this creep master.

"Hmmm, let's take a look," Zizu said as he closed his eyes.

In his mind's eye, he could see Caisco easily handling his group. There were still no seriously injured among them, however. It would appear that even though they couldn't hurt Caisco, he was having trouble finishing them. It couldn't be helped, however. Caisco had to hold back since he wanted Nico Robin alive.

Timber had some minor injures, but he still had the advantage. The cyborg has been badly damaged and only the reindeer remained a threat. From what he had observed, the reindeer creature still hadn't used any of those strange balls to increase his transformations. At the rate things were currently progression, the cyborg and the reindeer Zoan wouldn't last much longer.

Sahara, like Caisco, was also uninjured and had critically wounded the Pirate Hunter. He was greatly disappointed in the Pirate Hunter's performance. He had heard many promising rumors about Roronoa Zoro being a fearsome swordsman who actually lived after he had challenged the greatest swordsman in the world.

It would appear, however, it was nothing more than propaganda, which was ashamed since he would have been a worthy vessel. He needed someone young to replace Thomas.

At the rate things were currently progression, Sahara should be able to finish that group soon, especially since one of them couldn't even hit a woman. It was a pitiful weakness for anyone to have on these waters. It also annoyed him since the cook was supposed to be someone who rivaled the Pirate Hunter in strength. Even if he was strong, he didn't need a slave with such a disable weakness.

"It would seem that our trap has been successful, thanks to the information you provided," Zizu said as he looked towards his new servant. "At their current rate, they all should be dead within another few minutes."

"You don't want to take any of them alive besides Robin?" Luffy asked.

Zizu shook his head. "The only ones I were interested in turned out to be disappointments. I don't need needless trash in my army."

Luffy frowned. "Don't underestimate my crew, master. They're all at their strongest when the odds are against them."

Zizu stared at Luffy for a moment. Normally, he would have chalked Strawhat's statement as a captain being overconfident in his crew's abilities, but he knew this wasn't the case with this boy. This was a group, despite their size, that burnt Enies Lobby to the ground and defeated not one, but two Warlords. It was best to side with caution, especially since his plan was at such a critical stage.

"You have a point, Strawhat. One can never be too careful about these sort of things," Zizu admitted. "Why don't you go and finish off one of those groups."

Ivy's eyes widened in horror. "Strawhat, don't do it! Those people are your crew!"

"Were his crew," Zizu corrected sadistically. "He has no need for them anymore and the only one I am interested in among them is Nico Robin. The rest have proven to be disposable."

"You monster!" Ivy shouted as Luffy squeezed her arm so hard that she could feel her bones crack. She, however, hardly cared about that at the moment.

"Stay still," Thomas ordered. There was a flicker of concern in his eyes, but he didn't move in to stop Luffy.

"Which group?" Luffy asked.

Zizu smiled. "Pick one."

Luffy nodded. "Okay." He then let go of Ivy, but Thomas quickly took his place.

"Put her in the prison for the time being," Zizu casually ordered. "I don't have time the time at the moment to turn her."

"Very well, master," Thomas said as he dragged Ivy inside the building.

"Master, if you don't mind me asking, why do you want Robin?" Luffy asked. "She is strong, but she isn't the strongest."

"I honestly don't care for her," Zizu admitted. "But others within the Revolutionaries have been looking for her for some years." He then paused for a moment. "In fact, we have a visitor today who would be greatly interested in her.

Luffy was silent.

"But enough of that, get going," Zizu ordered.

Luffy bowed his head and began to make his way back towards the heart of the town. He already had a group in mind.

* * *

 

Chopper breathed heavily as he just barely dodged another slash from Timber's claws. Things have been going badly since Franky received another serious back wound and was now crippled on the ground. The cyborg still attempted to stand up, but the blood lost made him weak and dizzy. He needed to close those wounds, but he was in no position to do so. They had to get away from this battle before they were both killed.

"Give it up, you're no match for me," Timber gloated as he pinned Chopped against one of the buildings.

"I'm not dead yet, bastard!" Chopper shouted as he kicked Timber hard in the stomach sending him sliding back.

Chopper knew he had no choice now. With his mind made up he pulled out one of his Rumble Balls.

"I won't let you take that," Timber growled as charged Chopper and nearly knocked the Rumble Ball out of his hands.

"Damn, it's like he knows about my Rumble Balls," Chopper growled in frustration. Strange, how the heck did this guy know so much about them? Regardless, he needed to try again.

He grasped in pain as Timber nailed him on the side causing blood to spill everywhere. Fighting through the pain, he put the Rumble Ball in his mouth and managed to eat it before Timber could stop him again.

"Guard Point!" Chopper yelled as he turned into a giant puffball that deflected Timber's attack.

"Dammit, I was too late," Timber cussed.

Chopper sighed in relief. That was too close.

Timber then smirk. "No matter. I just have to wait until that ball wears off. I believe it was three minutes, right."

Chopper grasped in shock. "How...how do you know that!?"

Timber smirk got wider. "I guess while I wait, I can finish off your cyborg friend." He then ran towards Franky, who was just now starting to stand up.

Chopper transformed out of his Guard Point and went into his full reindeer form.

Franky looked up to see that Timber had transformed back into a full lion and was ready to maul him again.

"I don't think so, beastie!" Franky yelled as he put his hands together. His arms then began to expand in size. "Coup de Vent!"

Timber saw the attack coming and jumped into the air, avoiding it completely.

"What!?" Franky exclaimed in shock.

Timber sneered down at him. "Too slow again, metal man."

Before he could attempt to bite Franky's head off, however, Chopper, in his Horn Point, charged in and rammed Timber with his horns. Timber screamed in pain and surprise as he was sent flying forward and crashed into a nearby building.

"Good timing there, little bro," Franky said appreciatively.

He still couldn't believe the eased in which Timber dodged his Coup de Vent. It was like he knew what to expect. In fact, that stupid lion man seemed to know a lot about them.

"Franky, we have to get out of here," Chopper said. He was even more concern when he saw how much blood was still running down his friend's back.

Franky growled. "We can still beat that jerk."

"Franky, you're too badly injured and I only have two minutes left on my Rumble Ball," Chopper attempted to reason. He didn't like to run away either, but he saw no other option.

Franky for his part knew bad things happened if Chopper took too many of those Rumble Balls in a short amount of time and he was feeling far from super at the moment. He couldn't collapse now and leave Chopper alone to fight this guy.

"Okay, little bro," Franky finally said.

Timber pushed his way out of the rubble and gave a loud roar. "Like I said, you won't escape!"

Chopper quickly went back into his Walking Point and Franky wasted no time jumping on the reindeer's back. Without another word, Chopper took off in the opposite direction.

"Get back here!" Timber yelled as he ran after them.

Chopper, however, knew he had the advantage for once. Lions were decent sprint runners, but they weren't good for running long distances.

"Where are we going anyway?" Franky asked. His voice was slur as he began to have problems keeping conscious.

"I smell Robin's group nearby," Chopper said. "We can meet up with them and they can help us fight off the lion man."

He would have preferred to go to Zoro during times like these, but he knew Zoro was in no condition to fight, let alone protect them. Really, he shouldn't even allowed the swordsman to leave the ship, but he knew that would be an impossible task to make him stay on the behind while everyone else was out fighting. His pride and devotion towards the crew wouldn't allow it.

"But given what has happened to us, I think we can assume that they ran into their own problems," Franky stated, interrupting Chopper's thoughts.

Chopper honestly didn't think of that. This entire situation did reeks of one big trap and Robin and the others could be in equal danger. He, however, had little choice now. Zoro's group was in the other direction and he couldn't double back with Timber running right behind them.

"We have to keep going now," Chopper said. "Hopefully, they can handle their opponent better than we did ours."

Franky just nodded, too weak to say anything further.

* * *

 

Usopp screamed in terror as he dodged and weaved through Sahara's merciless attacks. He wasn't entire sure how he had survived for as long as he had and he could only thanked his cowardly nature that allowed his body react when his mind was completely blank.

"You're faster than you look," Sahara said, somewhat impress. "You've also somehow managed to block your mind and flow with my attacks. It seems that I have taken you too lightly."

"I think you give me too much credit, lady," Usopp said as he rolled away from another thrust. Sanji used this time to move in and kicked her arm away from Usopp.

Sahara looked greatly surprise by this turn of events. "I thought you couldn't hit a lady?"

"I didn't hit you," Sanji said in a tight voice. "I hit your weapon."

"Clever loophole in your code," Sahara said as she pulled her arm back. "But that's not nearly enough to save your friends."

Sanji grumbled at his own weakness.

"Really, I've never met a pirate who would put their own sense of honor before their own lives," Sahara said as she rubbed her arm. "I don't know if I should call you brave or stupid. Or maybe even selfish for putting your code before your own crew."

Sanji looked like he wanted to run forward and kicked her, but he couldn't make his body move.

Sahara suddenly jumped out the way when a blade of compressed air nearly hit her.

"We're not that easy to kill," Zoro snorted. "We don't need that love cook to protect us."

Sanji gave Zoro a cold glare. He didn't like how Zoro saw him as being a burden, but the just couldn't make his body attack Sahara no matter how much he wanted to. It was a feeling that was beyond frustration.

"I'm impressed you can even still move with those wounds," Sahara noted. "Although, I guess I really shouldn't be given your profile."

Zoro glared at her for a moment. "Tell me woman, how did you know to ambush us?"

"Zoro?" Usopp questioned.

"You just happened to come in my direction," Sahara answered. "It was your own bad luck to run into me."

"Don't you dare lie to me," Zoro growled causing Sahara to rise an eyebrow.

"Don't talk to her like that you uncouth moss head," Sanji shot back. This time, Zoro mentally blocked Sanji's words.

"From what Ivy said, there was only one woman in Zizu's group that was a significant threat to my crew. What are the odds you would find us given that the love cook here can't even touch you and our sniper can't hit you because of your speed. And I bet my life we're not the only ones having this kind of problem," Zoro accused.

Sahara stood perfectly still as she listened to Zoro speak.

Usopp just looked at the swordsman in confusion, not really sure what Zoro was saying.

"I'm only guessing, but I'm willing to bet that Nami's group is being attacked by that Iron Wall guy given that they have no one within their group that can pierce metal and Chopper's group is being attacked by either that lion guy or Ivy's father," Zoro surmised.

"How can you guess all of that?" Usopp asked in disbelief.

Sanji on the other hand understood Zoro's line of thinking. "In other words, we were led straight into a trap and forced to fight people who had a fighting advantage against us."

Usopp looked between his two crewmates in disbelief. "But how could they have possibly plan that? No one even knew we were going to split up until we got here."

"Luffy knew," Zoro said in a whisper, losing his previous anger.

Sanji's one eye widened in shock. "Moss head, you can't be saying..."

"Luffy was the one who planned everything, wasn't he?" Zoro asked as he glared at the former marine.

Usopp was completely taken off-guard by the accusation. "Luffy?"

Sahara said nothing for a moment. "Well, I am impressed. You're not as dumb as your profile suggested, but you're partly wrong in your observation. Your captain didn't plan much. It was our master who measured your strengths and weaknesses using your captain's memories of all your previous battles and decided who would be the best fit to fight you." She brushed some hair out of her eyes. "Your captain just split you up and led you to your own destruction." She then gave a slightly smile. "Although, your captain did provide us with some useful information and tips. Like pretty boy over here being unable to hit a woman and you being mortally injured during Thriller Bark."

"What...but Luffy was on the ship! He couldn't have..." Usopp stuttered in disbelief.

"Zizu has access to all his slaves' memories and can communicate with them through their minds, remember," Sanji stated in disgust as he bit down on his cigarette. "Zizu heard everything when we talked back on the Thousand Sunny. That's also why he didn't have his men follow Nami-san and Ivy-san back to ship after they've escape the town yesterday."

"That's also the reason why Luffy switched watch with you last night," Zoro continued. "It was all to plan everything for today without raising too much suspicion. Which is also why Luffy didn't have the time to raid the kitchen."

"Now you know," Sahara said as she raised her claw hand. "Too bad you learn all of this far too late to save yourselves. Then again, having your captain betray you is not something that happens often, even among pirates."

Sanji narrowed his eyes in response.

"Don't be so sure," Zoro said as he clenched his sword in his teeth. "If you really did get your information about us from Luffy, you should know that we're not to be taken lightly."

"Keep telling yourself that," Sahara said as she prepared her next attack. "Even if you somehow managed to beat me, there are several others who can easily kill you. You won't be leaving this place alive."

* * *

 

Robin nearly lost her arm when Caisco attempted to cut one of her bloom hands. Caisco was slow, but he was unbelievably fast when he attacked. It didn't help that almost all of his attacks tended to send the entire street flying at them.

As she looked around at the rest of her crew she could tell that Nami was quickly reaching her limit and Brook was even worst off since he was the only close-ranged fighter in their group. It has been a miracle that he hasn't been split in half by now.

Brook breathed heavily as the giant former pirate glared down on him. "This is just like what happened with Kuma."

He remembered all too well how hopeless the battle was against the Warlord. Not even Zoro, who sword skills greatly surpassed his own, could do a thing against him. The only reason why any of them were still alive was because of Kuma's mercy.

This time, there would be no mercy. Defeat truly meant death for not just himself, but his crewmates as well. He couldn't let his new crew die because of his weakness. Not again.

"You put up a gallant fight, truly worthy of any pirate," Caisco said as he lifted his ax. "But now it's over. Go into the afterlife with pride."

Brook gritted his teeth as he suddenly pulled out his violin. It was a long shot, but he had nothing to lose at this point.

Caisco stopped for a moment as he looked at the musician in bewilderment. "What are you doing? Playing for your own funeral?"

"Nemuriuta Flanc," Brook muttered as he began to play a smooth melody on his violin. He continued to play for several minutes and Caisco made no move to stop him.

Nami looked baffled as she looked between the two in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

"Nami-san, look at Caisco's shoulders," Robin said as she walked towards the younger woman.

Nami took a look and saw that Caisco's shoulders seemed partly slumped and his head was titled down. It took Nami a few moments to realize what had happened as a soft snores echoed out the armor.

"He...he fell asleep," Nami muttered in disbelief.

"Brook's music must have some kind of hypnotic quality," Robin surmised. "And since Caisco is already under a type of hypnosis, he could be more sensitive to this kind of attack."

"But even if he's asleep, what can we do?" Nami asked. "It's not like we can actually harm him."

Robin nodded in agreement. "It's maybe best that we escape and regroup with the others."

Brook turned towards them; he had been listening the entire time. "I'll cover you."

They all began to carefully move back and head towards the main road. Brook never stopped playing the entire time and never took his eyes off the former pirate as he walked backwards.

Robin frowned in thought. How could the enemy ambush them so well?

"Hey, are you guys okay!?" a boyish voice exclaimed.

Nami nearly jumped out of her skin until she realized it was Luffy running towards them. "You idiot, keep it quiet," she growled.

Brook didn't allow Luffy's arrival to stop him from playing. "Luffy-san, you're right on time. We ran into some trouble."

Luffy looked towards the still snoozing pirate. "What happened?"

"We were ambushed," Robin informed. "Unfortunately, we were a bad match against him since we couldn't bypassed his armor."

Luffy titled his head in confusion. "Why he's sleeping?"

"I put him to asleep using an old technique I learned in my former kingdom," Brook answered, still not turning around. "As long as I play my music, he will remain in a trance."

Luffy then lowered his head, hiding his eyes in the brim of his hat. "I see."

Robin said nothing as she looked at her captain. Something felt wrong about him.

"What happened to Ivy?" Nami asked as she looked around for the other woman. "You couldn't have defeated Zizu since that guy is still under his control."

"Let me take care of things here first and then I'll explain everything," Luffy said as he grabbed his right arm into his left.

"Luffy, that guy's armor is stronger than steel," Nami warned. "I'm not even sure that you can break it."

Luffy lifted his head just far enough so Nami could see one of his eyes. He then gave her a huge grin that could rival Zoro's at his most vicious. "Trust me, I have this."

Robin only caught Luffy's eye for a moment, but she noticed that it looked glazed and seemed fog over. It reminded her of times when her captain had one too many after a night of partying. Which was strange since she knew Luffy haven't been drinking anything recently.

Her mind began to reel as she remembered the tell-tell signs of someone being controlled and how well they had been previously trapped. It all came together for her within a few seconds and she realized that they were all in mortal danger.

"Brook, get away from Luffy!" Robin yelled, startling Nami.

"Robin-san?" Nami questioned in confusion.

"Gum Gum..." Luffy started as he lunged forward.

"Luffy is being controlled!" Robin shouted.

"Huh!?" Brook exclaimed as he turned to face his captain. The warning, however, came too late

"Pistol!" Luffy yelled as he threw his punch and hit Brook square in the face.


	8. Disbelief

Ivy struggled violently as she was harshly dragged by her wrist down a staircase that led towards the basement.

"Stop resisting or I might have to hurt you," Thomas warned harshly.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, you can't hurt your own daughter before she get mind raped by some psycho."

"You should be honored that Zizu chose to spare you after all you have done to undermine his plans," Thomas stated. "You, like the rest of the world, are too blinded by the World Government to see the greater good."

"I know there's little point to talking to you while you like this," Ivy said in a softer voice. "But...there must still be a part of you that knows what you're about to do is wrong."

Thomas glanced at Ivy. "If your trying to get me to question my master, you might as well stop right now. My loyalty is to him and him alone."

Ivy stared at his father. "If that is true, why did you try so hard to convince him to spare me all this time? You also never had the heart to kill me after all these years despite your orders." She then turned away from him. "You could had killed me that day after you destroyed our village, you knew where mom would hide me. If you were so loyal to Zizu, why didn't you complete your order and show mercy?"

Thomas hesitated at that moment and Ivy could see her father's eyes becoming partly clear as the fog began to lift. For a moment, she could see the man she once called her father.

Ivy wanted to reach out to him, but she knew it would be a worthless gesture. Making him hesitate and making him disobey orders were worlds apart. She also had to think of her new allies. The Strawhats were in great danger, not to mention the fact that their captain was now out to kill them. She couldn't afford to show pity towards her father.

Taken advantage of her father's hesitation, she twisted her arm free of her father's grip and kicked him hard in the gut. Thomas, who didn't braced himself for the surprise attack, had all the breath knocked out of him as he fell down several flights of stairs.

"Sorry, father," Ivy apologized before she ran back up the stairs and into the main compound.

The noise of her escape, however, caught the attention of several people who came running to check on their down leader.

"Thomas, are you okay?" one of them asked as they helped him to his feet.

"Fools, after her," Thomas grasped as he attempted to catch his breath. They didn't ask any more questions as they chase after Ivy.

Ivy knew it would be a waste of time to attempt to fight anyone at the moment. Although she knew she could win against most of Zizu's slaves, the fighting would only attract more people and she didn't want to fight her father again. Most of all, she had to warn the Strawhats about their captain, even though she had the feeling that she was already too late.

There was also the matter that the Strawhats were scattered all across the city and she had no idea which group Luffy decided to kill first.

Growling in frustration she quickly made up her mind on which group she was going to help. She knew that Zoro's team had to be the worst off given how weak the swordsman was and that sniper would be nearly useless in a close combat fight. She also prayed that they were not fighting Caisco. Of all of Zizu's slaves, she could do nothing against him.

With her decision made, she jumped out of a nearby window and took off running down the street.

* * *

 

Nami grasped in shock as Brook was sent flying into the stone street. It didn't take long for the navigator to realized that Luffy had fracture Brook's skull and the injury would have been fatal in a normal person.

"Brook!" Nami screamed in terror as she ran towards the fallen musician.

Luffy's arm snapped back into place as he watched Nami tend to her injured comrade.

"So, I was right," Robin said coldly as she looked towards Luffy. "How long?"

Even Luffy knew what she was referring to. "Ever since I returned to the ship yesterday."

"So, that's how everything was so well plan," Robin said, never lowering her guard. "We have been set up since the beginning."

"Luffy, how could you do that to Brook?" Nami asked, shaking in anger.

"He doesn't have much choice in the matter, Nami-san," Robin informed. "He's now under Zizu's control."

"What!?" Nami yelled, losing her previous anger. At that very moment, heavy breathing suddenly caught Nami's attention.

"Did I just fall asleep?" Caisco asked as he straightened back up.

Nami stared in Caisco in absolute fear. There was no way they could fight both this guy and Luffy.

"You were put to sleep by my musician," Luffy said casually. "You were lucky that I decided to come in this direction."

Caisco stared at Luffy. "Strawhat, stay out of this. This is battle to fight."

"Well, master told me to finish one of the groups," Luffy stated with a smile. "So, I'll take over from here."

"Why did you choose my group?" Caisco asked with an edge of irritation.

Luffy shrugged. "Because I felt like it."

Caisco said nothing for a moment. "Fine, do what you want. But remember, that black haired woman is to be taken alive."

Robin's eyes narrowed. She knew she would be a prize target for someone like Zizu. She, however, had no intentions of allowing herself to be captured again, especially by someone who had the nerve to enslave one of her saviors.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Luffy said dismissively as he began to slowly walk towards Nami.

She immediately turned her attention away from Caisco and held up her Clima-Tact. "Luffy, you don't want to do this. We're your friends."

"I'm a servant of Master Zizu, I have no friends," Luffy almost sneered as he broke into a mad dash. Nami screamed in horror as she saw Luffy ready to cave her skull in.

"Ocho Fleur!" Robin shouted as eight arms appeared all over Luffy's body. "Flip!" Luffy was then flip through the air, knocking him off course.

Nami then quickly used her Clima-Tact to hit Luffy away from her. Regardless of the surprise attack, however, Luffy was still able land somewhat gracefully.

"Gum Gum Gatling!" Luffy shouted as he attempted to hit Nami again. He was mildly surprise to find he had hit a mirage instead. He looked around briefly for the navigator. "Where are you?"

He then saw movement at the corner of his eyes and wasted no time going after her.

At least he would have if several arms didn't appear underneath Luffy and tripped him. Luffy growled in frustration as he got up and glared at Robin, who was standing behind him with her arms crossed. Regardless of his orders, he wasn't told to bring back Robin unharmed.

He turned around and began to run towards Robin at his full speed. She attempted to defend herself by making a net out of her hands to slow him down, but he quickly sidestepped the trap and was on Robin in a matter of moments. He then delivered a vicious kick to Robin's ribs, nearly breaking them.

"Robin!" Nami screamed as her friend went down. Despite the ferocity of the attack, however, Nami could tell that Robin was still very conscious.

Luffy glared down at Robin as if he was deciding whether he should do more damage to assure that she wouldn't interfere again. It was so surreal watching Luffy actually attack his own crew. It wasn't like when they fought Oars. The demon giant may have had Luffy's shadow and mimic his abilities and mannerisms, but Oars still wasn't Luffy.

This, however, was Luffy. This was the man who saved her from Arlong, saved an entire kingdom for the sake of one friend, and challenged the World Government to saved another in his crew. The same man who had done all those things was now trying to kill them. How could such a thing even happen?

"Stay down if you don't want to get hurt anymore," Luffy finally said as he turned his attention back towards Nami.

"Luffy, don't do this," Robin pleaded.

Her plea fell on deaf ears as Luffy looked towards Nami with blank eyes. He dashed over to Nami so quickly that the poor girl barely had time to blink. She never realized just how fast the rubber boy was and he wasn't even using his Gears.

Luffy then viciously grabbed Nami by the neck and pinned her to the ground. She could feel the bones in her neck crack from the pressure Luffy was applying. It was getting hard to breath and everything was becoming hazy. What she could see clearly, however, was Luffy's face.

"Luffy…." Nami whimpered as the life was squeezed out of her. Was Luffy really going to kill her?

Luffy said nothing as he prepared to break his crewmate's neck.

"Weapons Left!" a voice interrupted Luffy and he was nearly hit on his side by a cannonball. It was by pure reflex and instinct that he was able to dodge the cannonball at the last moment, but he was forced to jump away from Nami.

Luffy looked more than annoyed when he saw Franky riding Chopper. They stopped just short of them.

"Strawhat, that was you?" Franky asked in bewilderment. "Sorry, but it looked like you were attacking sis."

"Franky, don't be fool by Luffy!" Nami warned once she found her voice. It was hoarse and strain from Luffy nearly crushing it. "Luffy is working for Zizu!"

"WHAT!?" both Chopper and Franky exclaimed surprise.

"What are you saying, sis?" Franky asked in disbelief. "There's no way Strawhat would work for that guy!"

"He has somehow been possessed," Robin answered as she clutched her sore ribs. "He's not himself."

"Timber, that moron failed to finished those two off," Caisco said with an air of frustration. He began to walk in to finish his comrade's job.

"It's no problem," Luffy called, stopping Caisco. "I can handle them as well."

Caisco put his ax down. "Just finished them off quickly so we can deliver that woman to our master."

Chopper looked between the two in confusion. "This...this is some kind of trick right? Luffy, you can't possibly be one of them."

Luffy began to approach them. "Gum Gum Bazooka!" he shouted as he put his arms together and launched both of his arms at his stun crew. Chopper just barely had time to get out of the way.

"Damn, Strawhat really is against us," Franky muttered as lifted his left arm. "Hoshi Shield!" His forearm expanded, blocking Luffy's pistol. "Get in close, Chopper."

Chopper quickly got over his shock, but he still felt noticeable numb. "Right!"

Chopper charged in and he managed to dodge most of Luffy's attacks. Those he didn't managed to move away from were blocked by Franky's shield.

Once they were close enough to Luffy, Franky removed the skin from his right hand. "Strong Right!" He shot his arm out, but Luffy quickly moved away from it. The chain, however, circled around and wrapped itself around Luffy's body. "Now dodge this, Weapons Left!"

This time, the cannon hit dead on and Luffy was knocked off his feet. Luffy then quickly turned his body in midair and grabbed Franky's chain with his right hand. From there, he pulled so hard that he actually lift both Chopper and Franky into the air.

Luffy pulled his left arm back and began to twist it around several times. "Gum Gum Rifle!" The attack hit Franky right in the face, causing his head snapped back violently. He was then thrown from Chopper's back.

"Franky!" Chopper yelled in horror. He was so concentrated on his crewmate that he failed to evade the vicious kick Luffy gave him. Chopper cried in pain as he crashed onto the cold ground. Regardless, he turned around to see what condition Franky was in.

He sighed in relief when he saw Franky was beginning to pick himself off the ground, rubbing his neck. It was fortunate his neck was made of steel; otherwise Luffy would have broken it.

Nami could only watched in horror, as her crew was being ripped apart by their own captain. She wanted to help, but all her powers were useless against Luffy's rubber body. Even her strongest attack would barely faze him.

More heavy breathing caught her attention as another newcomer ran towards them. A huge lion was quickly approaching them. It was also completely out of breath.

"Dammit, you stupid reindeer," the lion huffed. "Did you really think you could run away from me?"

Caisco looked towards his comrade in exasperation. "So, you finally show up."

"Caisco, what are you doing here?" Timber demanded.

"You've allowed your quarry to escape and they came into my side of the battlefield," Caisco stated.

"It wasn't my fault.," Timber growled. "That reindeer is as fast as the devil."

"You should have expected as much. It is a reindeer," Caisco said nonchalantly.

Timber's eyes bored into Caisco. "What about you? You didn't manage to kill anyone either."

Caisco was silent for a moment. "Things were under control," he said in a calm voice, although Timber could tell he wasn't being completely truthful.

"No matter, I'll finish them all right here," Timber proclaimed.

"We can't, he is under orders to kill them now," Caisco said neutrally.

"Huh!?" Timber exclaimed. "Who!?"

Caisco motioned towards Luffy who was currently walking towards Franky.

"Hey, how did you get orders to kill them!?" Timber shouted, stopping Luffy. "I was told to kill the cyborg and that reindeer!"

Luffy looked towards the lion. "You're the one who let them wonder over here."

"That was hardly my fault!" Timber shouted.

While all this was going on, Chopper carefully walked toward Robin. "Are you alright?"

Robin nodded. "They want me alive."

Chopper didn't even have to ask why. "How did Luffy fell under their control? I mean, didn't Ivy say that it could hours or days?"

Robin shook her head. "I'm not sure."

"You don't know Luffy," Nami said. She was somehow able to sneak over to them without interrupting the current banter between Luffy and Timber. "That moron is ridiculously simple-minded and it doesn't take much to hypnotize him. He was absolutely no match against that painter girl from Little Garden." Not to mentioned how an enemy that wasn't even aiming at him once hypnotized him. That last one actually worked out for the best, but it was still a glaring weakness.

"That does make sense," Robin said slowly. She always suspected that Luffy had a weak mental defense, but the speed that his mind was broken was disturbing.

"But what can we do?" Chopper asked desperately. "There must be some way to break the spell. I mean, Luffy has such a strong will so he should be able to fight it off."

"Strong will is one thing, but Luffy obviously has no mental defense and is easily manipulated," Robin said after some thought. "I don't know if we will be able to reach him."

"We have to do something or else we all will be killed," Nami said desperately as she looked towards Luffy, who was still arguing with Timber.

Franky was right in the middle of it and was currently playing dead. Brook was also still out and hadn't moved since Luffy punched him. If Brook still had a physical brain, Nami was certain he would at least have a concussion from such a vicious blow.

The odds were badly against them. They could barely fight one of these guys now they had another person to fight along with their own captain. As hard as she tried, Nami couldn't think of a way out of this.

* * *

 

Usopp screamed in pain as Sahara dug her claws into Usopp's calf. He could already feel the blood beginning to flow from the wound.

"Usopp!" Zoro yelled as he fell to his knees. "Damn, I lost too much blood again."

Sahara then viciously pulled her claws out of the wound, causing the blood to freely flow out. "Did you really think you could dodge me forever?"

"Dammit!" Sanji cussed in dismay. He had tried several times, but his body just kept refusing to hit a woman. He was able to keep Sahara from landing fatal blows on his crewmates, but it wasn't nearly enough. She was slowly but surely picking them apart.

"Stay where you are, Roronoa Zoro," Sahara said almost sweetly. "You're next after I'm done with him."

"I won't allow you to do that," Sanji said in determination.

"And what can you do since you won't even attack me?" Sahara asked casually.

"Shit..." Sanji cussed.

"Sanren Kayaku Boshi!" Usopp suddenly yelled as she shot three exposing pellets at her. Sahara, unfortunately for him, sensed them coming and easily got out of the way.

"So you still have that much fight left," Sahara noted.

"Dammit, why can't I hit you?" Usopp asked in frustration.

"I grew bored of you," Sahara said as she raised her claw hand towards Usopp's head. "You can just die now."

"I won't allow that!" Sanji yelled as he ran to stop Sahara. He found, however, he didn't have to when a knife came from his line of vision and struck Sahara on her arm, causing her to rile back in pain.

"So, you can be caught off-guard," Ivy said as she ran towards the battlefield.

"You, I thought Strawhat and Thomas was dealing with you," Sahara said as she grabbed her wound.

"You know things never go as plan," Ivy mocked.

"Ivy, where's Luffy?" Zoro asked.

Ivy wasn't sure how to answer his question.

"We know that Luffy has been corrupted by Zizu," Zoro added quickly. "Tell me where he is."

Ivy sighed. At least that saved her from telling them the breaking news. "I'm not sure. He went to find some of your crewmates to kill on Zizu's order."

"Oh god," Usopp muttered as all the color drained out of his face.

"Then Nami-san and Robin-chan are in danger," Sanji declared in horror.

"Uhmmm, he could have gone after Chopper and Franky's group," Usopp pointed out dryly.

"Then we have no time to waste," Zoro growl. "We have to take this woman out."

"Don't think it will be easy just because you have an extra person," Sahara said.

"Trust me, the odds are more than against you now," Ivy said as she took out several knives.


	9. Pushing Back

Sahara looked between all the exhausted fighters and gave a small smirk before she seemed to disappear from sight.

"That technique again," Sanji growled.

Ivy put her knife up at the last second and blocked Sahara, who attempted to gut her. Zoro used this opportunity to charge forward, aiming squarely at Sahara's side. She saw the swordsman coming and made an attempted to pull away, but was taken off-guard by a left hook by Ivy.

"You got her!" Usopp cheered.

Sahara flipped back and rubbed her swollen cheek in annoyance.

"That's your one weakness," Ivy said confidently. "You can only foresee one person at a time."

"So what," Sahara said, regaining her composer. "That still won't save you."

She disappeared from sight again, but this time she chose to attack Zoro by cruelly kicking him in the stomach.

"Tamago Boshi!" Usopp yelled as he shot several eggs at Sahara.

Instead of dodging them she chose to block them with the side of her arm. This proved to be a big mistake as a rotten small filled her noise. She nearly lunged over as she began to cough violently.

"Oh God, how old were those things!" Sahara exclaimed with tears in her eyes. Even with her senses, she never expected the sniper to shot rotten eggs at her. Their captain, however, did warn them that the sniper boy was a trickster and shouldn't be underestimated. Still, it was a childish and gross technique.

Usopp smiled victoriously. "So, you can be taken by surprise."

Zoro also began to cough. "Dammit Usopp, warn me when you're going to use those things!"

Sanji also sneered. "I can't believe you allowed good food to go rotten like that."

"Hey, it worked didn't it," Usopp protested.

Ivy ran forward and cut Sahara deeply into her midsection. She, however, had to hold her breath entire time since she was within range of the terribly smell.

Sahara jumped back and grabbed her wound, which was bleeding heavily. "I allowed myself to get careless."

"Didn't I say that the odds were more than against you," Ivy stated.

"Don't get too carry away," Sahara sneered as she charged towards Ivy. She attempted to defend herself with a parry, but was surprise when Sahara suddenly changed her course at the last second and came at her side. Ivy let out a cry of pain as Sahara's claw plunged into the area just below her ribs and began to work its way up her chest.

"Shit!" Sanji exclaimed as he ran towards the two girls. Once he was close enough, he slammed his heels into the road and a large chuck of stone was lifted into the air. Sanji then kicked the giant stone right at Sahara.

Sahara saw it the rock coming towards her and easily dodged it, but Sanji was expecting that and use that time to run in and pulled Ivy out of her range. Sanji was alarmed at the amount of blood Ivy had already lost and she had lost consciousness from the shock.

Sahara quickly composed herself and moved in to stab Sanji in the back, but her claws were stopped by Zoro who stabbed one of his swords right through the middle of her claw hand.

Sahara screamed in a pain as she pulled her hand back and looked at it in disbelief. "Where did that sudden bust of speed come from? You weren't that fast a moment ago."

"We have no time to deal with you," Zoro growled as he huffed for air. "Back down or we'll be force to finish you."

Under any normal circumstances, he wouldn't bother given a warning. He, however, knew that despite everything this woman had done, she was just another victim and it wouldn't be right just to kill her.

Sahara looked down at her hand again and knew that her chances for victory had been greatly reduced. It was a disgraced to run from a battle that she should had won given all her advantages. But she had underestimated her foe and she had paid dearly for it.

She then looked over the group and saw all the damage she had done to them. She may have failed at killing any of them, but her other companions should be able to handle the rest. None of them would escape here alive.

"Mark my words, this isn't the end of this," Sahara growled as she jumped towards the roof of one of the buildings and then disappeared from sight.

"She's gone," Sanji said with a sigh of relief.

Zoro collapsed to his knees as he took several deep breaths.

"Zoro!" Usopp yelled worriedly as he ran towards his fallen friend.

"This...this is nothing..." Zoro stuttered.

"Like hell, you're bleeding all over the place!" Usopp exclaimed as he moved to get a better look of Zoro's wounds. That stomach injury was by far the worst and any normal person would have long passed out.

"You're not much better yourself," Sanji noted as he looked at Usopp's bruised and cut up body. In fact, everyone except him had serious injuries. It made his guilt return in full force. No one would have gotten this badly hurt if he could have kick a woman.

He felt even angrier, however, that the enemy had chosen to take advantage of his sense of honor so they could murder his crew faster. He made a silent promise to beat Zizu until he was nothing but a pile of black and blue paste.

"We need to find Luffy and the others," Zoro said as he attempted to stand up.

Sanji forced the swordsman back down. "Stupid, you can barely move. How can you help anyone given the shape your body is in?"

"I've had worst," Zoro remarked offhandedly, remembering the pain he experience back on Thriller Bark. No it wasn't his pain, it was Luffy's, he reminded himself.

"Sanji's right," Usopp said as he reached into his pack. "We need to treat our own injures before we find the others."

Ivy slowly began to regain consciousness and she slowly sat up. "What happened?"

"You were nearly cut in half," Zoro answered bluntly.

Ivy looked around. "Where's Sahara?"

"She retreated after Zoro gave her a bad hand wound," Usopp said as he took out several sets of bandages.

"I see," Ivy said as she allowed herself to relax.

There was a long silence as Sanji bandaged everyone's wounds.

"So, where do we start looking for Luffy?" Usopp asked, breaking the silences.

"Well, which group is he most likely to attack?" Ivy asked, hissing in pain as Sanji applied pressure to her injury.

Zoro lowered his hand in thought. "If he goes after anyone, it would be Nami, Robin, and Brook."

"How you figure that?" Usopp asked.

"Because they would be easier for him to kill," Zoro said coldly. "Not to mention he would be taken out two of our smartest people and even if we did escape we couldn't sail away without a navigator."

Usopp titled his head. "You really think Luffy would be that smart about how he chose to attack?"

"Luffy can be very intelligent about some things," Zoro said.

"We have to go save Nami-san and Robin-chan!" Sanji yelled with fire in his eyes.

"And Brook, right?" Usopp asked in a flat voice. "But anyway, will Chopper and Franky be okay on their own. I mean we just barely survive our own fight."

"We have to trust in their power," Zoro said as he lowered his head for a moment. "Right now, our top priority is Luffy."

It was cold logic, but at this moment Luffy was by far their most dangerous foe. The others may have some information provided to them by Luffy, but Luffy knew his crew inside and out. He wouldn't take them lightly and he feared the others in his crew might hesitate fighting their captain.

"Then, we should get ready to move," Ivy said as she slowly stood up. He let out a small hiss of pain as she attempted not to reopen her wounds.

"I'll lead the way," Zoro said as he also stood up.

Sanji snorted. "Please, you're the same fool who got lost in a straight hallway."

"Why you..." Zoro growled.

"It's true," Usopp said as he closed his eyes and nodded his head.

"Ivy-san, would you do us the honor and lead us to Nami-san and Robin-chan?" Sanji asked politely.

Ivy nodded. "Follow me." She then began to lead them to the east side of town. "Did he really get lost in a straight hallway?"

"Yes," both Sanji and Usopp answered at the same time.

"Shut up!" Zoro yelled.

* * *

 

"There's an easy way to settle this," Timber said as he looked Luffy directly in the eye and grinned. "Rock, paper, scissors, winner takes all."

Luffy grinned. "You're on."

"This isn't the way to solve a disagreement," Caisco said neutrally. "Master gave Strawhat the order to take out his crew."

"Fine, winner takes half," Timber offered.

"No way, it's all or nothing!" Luffy exclaimed.

Timber growled at Luffy. "Don't be selfish. Just because you're new doesn't mean you get first dibs on every time."

Nami and Chopper looked at the argument in disbelief, while Robin had to fight to keep an amused look off her face.

"They're still going at it," Chopper in shock.

"Glad our lives are some kind of game to them," Nami said aggravatingly. She almost preferred if they had just killed them and got it over with.

"It seems Luffy's personality was left mostly unaltered," Robin stated as she watched the exchanged. "Maybe Zizu did this to throw us off."

"Maybe we should try to run while they're still arguing," Chopper offered.

"We can't leave Franky and Brook behind," Nami said.

Franky was lying perfectly still, but his eyes were wide opened. He was obviously looking for a chance to attack. Brook looked the same, but it was hard to tell if he had awakesince he had no eyes.

Caisco sighed in defeat. "Fine, do your rock, paper, scissors thing. We wasted enough time as it is."

Timber has a wide grin as he changed into his hybrid form. "Prepare to lose, you oversize rubber band."

"Bring on, kitty!" Luffy yelled as they brought their hands down. They were forced to do several sets since they kept coming up even.

"We need to come up with a plan," Nami said. The entire situation was still surreal.

"It's hard to come up with anything until we know who exactly who we will be fighting," Robin said.

After a few more minutes, Timber came up with scissors and Luffy produced rock.

Luffy cheered in triumph. "Yeah, I win!"

"Dammit..." Timber growled.

Luffy stepped away from the group and cracked his knuckles. "Just stand back and let me do all the work."

"Just be quick," Caisco stated impatiently. "We need to report back to Zizu soon and we still have too much to do to keep dealing with these pirates."

"Yeah, yeah," Luffy said as he walked over to Nami's group.

"Here he comes," Chopper said in worry.

Robin crossed her arms. "I'll cover you."

"Gum Gum Gatling!" Luffy yelled, as his arms seemed to multiple.

Chopper barely had time to jump out of the way as he ran towards his captain. He quickly went into his Heavy Point and attempted to punch Luffy in the face.

Luffy easily dodged the attack and wrapped his limbs around the doctor's body. He brought his hand up to smashed Chopper's head in, but he was interrupted when several arms wrapped around him.

"Stop doing that!" Luffy yelled as he brought his hand down in an attempt to break one of Robin's arms.

"Cyclone Tempo!" Nami yelled as she shot a piece of her Clima-Tact at Luffy. Since he wasn't expecting Nami to attack, he was hit dead on and his neck snapped back from impact. He was also forced to let of Chopper; given the reindeer the chance to grabbed Luffy and used his body weight to slam him to the ground.

The attack, however, only proved to mildly annoyed Luffy. "Gum Gum Spear!" he shouted as he put both his feet together and aim the blow right at Chopper's shoulder. Chopper didn't have time to evade the strike so he shrunk into his hybrid form to avoid having his shoulder broken.

Luffy, however, was far from done with him and he grabbed Chopper by his antlers. He then began to twist his arms around as he stood back. "Gum Gum Hammer!" he screamed as he unwind his arm, spinning Chopper rapidly before he slammed the young doctor into the ground with such forced that it cracked the road below them and left a shockwave of dust in its wake.

"CHOPPER!" both Robin and Nami screamed. They could tell by the white in his eyes that he was out, maybe even dead.

Nami started to shake as she looked at Chopper's lifeless body. "Chopper…he can't be…"

Before Luffy could recompose himself, several nails suddenly came flying at his back. He was able to evaded most of them, but some did managed to cut his arm and shoulder.

Franky's shoulder were also dislocated as he took aim at the rubberman. "Franky Destroy Cannon!" he yelled as he began to rapidly fire at Luffy.

Luffy chose to stand his ground and caught the bullets in his rubber body.

"I'm made of rubber, remember!" Luffy exclaimed as he bounced the bullets back.

Franky gave wide grin. "I know.

"Hanauta Sancho: Yahazu Giri!" Brook yelled.

Luffy's eyes widened in shock as he saw a very conscious swordsman coming right at him. It was so fast, that Luffy wasn't even sure if he was hit or not.

"Did he get him?" Nami asked hopefully.

Brook didn't move from his place and his face was completely blank.

Luffy checked his body several times as he looked for any injures. From what he could see, he somehow made it out undamaged from the surprise attack. "Too close," he muttered before he turned angrily at Brook. "You jerk! You'll pay for that."

He began to run towards Brook, who didn't turn around to face him. After a couple more steps, Luffy cried in pain and he clutched his side. He looked down to see several river of blood flowing through an opened wound. "What the..."

"You've never seen my technique before, have you Luffy-san," Brook said as he turned to face his captain. "I'm shock you managed to dodged it as much as you did."

"Interesting, he moved so fast that Strawhat didn't even know he was cut and the wound wasn't even fully opened," Caisco stated. He then glanced towards the cyborg. "He knew that his attack would be useless and just did it to distract him."

"They're a pretty clever bunch," Timber commented.

Luffy looked carefully at the wound before he shrugged it off as nothing serious. He had worst. "Gum Gum Stamp!"

Brook quickly sidestepped to avoid the kick, but was taken by surprise when Luffy was suddenly upon him and punched him in the face. Brook's teeth cracked as he was sent flying back.

Before he could make another attack, Luffy felt one his arms being pinned behind his back. His legs were also secure by several more arms.

"Dammit, this trick again," Luffy cussed. He began to use his great strength to pulled Robin's hands apart.

Franky saw his chance. He didn't have much cola left, so he had to make it count. He then ran towards Luffy and put both his arms together.

Luffy eyes widened when he saw that pose. He knew what was coming and could do nothing to stop it.

"Coup de Vent!" Franky yelled. Just before the attack hit, Robin released her hold on her captain. The burst of air quickly overwhelmed Luffy and he was sent flying across the city. He bounced off several buildings like a rubber ball before he landed some distance away.

"That should keep him busy for awhile," Franky said.

"Quickly, grab Chopper and let's get out of here!" Nami ordered as he charged her Clima-Tact.

"Gotcha!" Franky yelled back as he picked up Chopper. The role reversal was not lost to him.

He didn't get too far, however, as Timber now stood before him. "Don't think I'll let you get away twice."

"Dammit..." Franky growled. His hair was slumped over, showing he was extremely low on soda.

Timber raised one of his claw hands. "Die!" He suddenly stopped when his animal's instincts went off. He quickly jumped back when a flame leg nearly nailed him in the chest.

"What kind of man attacks a person who can't defend themselves?" Sanji asked as he exhaled his cigarette.

"Who the hell are you?" Timber demanded.

Sanji took another drag. "You can call me, the Hunter."

"The Hunter?" Timber repeated in confusion.

"So Sahara has also failed," Caisco said as looked around and saw Ivy was there too. "And so has Thomas." He then began to step forward. "It looks like I have to finish you all off myself." Before he could move any further, however, he saw a man point a sword at him.

"You won't move another inch," Zoro growled.

"So you're the infamous former bounty hunter from East Blue, the Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro," Caisco said casually.

"Glad you've heard of me," Zoro said with a toothy grin.

"You must have some skills to have defeated Sahara, but your luck ends here," Caisco stated.

"The only person's who luck has run out is you," Zoro sneered, although he was barely standing.

Caisco scoffed at him. "What can you do with such a battered body?"

Zoro growled at him.

"Zoro, we have to get out of here!" Nami yelled. "They..."

"I know about Luffy," Zoro said quickly, his eyes narrowing.

Nami nodded. "We have to leave before he gets back." She knew with the shape her crew was currently in, they wouldn't last much longer.

"Don't take us so lightly," Timber growled. "Even without Strawhat, we're more than a match for you."

Sanji took his cigarette out and flinched it to the ground. "Well, bring it on, you oversize pussy cat."


	10. Retreat

Caisco lifted his ax as he looked down at Zoro. "Let's see what a bounty of 120 million can do." He then swung downward, but Zoro was too fast.

"Oni Gir!" Zoro yelled as he did a three-way slashing attack across Caisco's chest. The attack hit, but it didn't even scratch Caisco's armor. Zoro's eyes widened in disbelief. "This is..."

Caisco slammed his ax down and the force knocked Zoro off his feet. Before he could land, however, Ivy quickly caught him.

"I told you to be careful of him," Ivy said. "He didn't get his high bounty for nothing."

"That shitty swordsman can never stay out of trouble," Sanji said as he barely dodged a kick from Timber.

"Worry about yourself, 'Hunter'," Timber sneered.

Sanji's eyes narrowed. "Don't worry. I'm far from worrying about that shithead."

Timber ran forward and turned into his full lion from as he attempted to sink his teeth into Sanji's leg. Sanji jumped back in surprise of the sudden viciousness.

"You're really are a wild animal," Sanji said in disgust. He was even more bloodthirsty than the CP9 agents.

"I've simply embraced the full power of my Devil Fruit," Timber said with a smirk. "I have no use for my human form anymore."

"Well, allow me to beat some manners back into you," Sanji said as he spun around and heated one of his legs. "Venaison Shoot!" he yelled as jumped into the air and attempted to hit Timber with several fiery kicks.

Timber just barely dodged each one, but he could still feel the intense heat from each kick. He then jumped and got some distance away from Sanji.

"Those kicks are dangerous," Timber said to himself. "If I'm hit, it won't just burn skin."

""Flambage Shot!" Sanji shouted as he jumped into the air again and attempted to crush Timber's head in with the heel of his foot.

Timber used this chance to jump up after Sanji and seize Sanji's unheated leg in his teeth. Sanji cried in pain, but brought his heated leg up and nailed Timber in the stomach. Needless to say, Timber quickly let go as he screamed in agony as he felt his flesh burn.

Sanji was able to land somewhat gracefully on one leg, but he still hissed in pain when he saw the blood covering his leg. "That shitty lion actually bite me."

Timber growled as he rubbed his burnt stomach. "Good thing that kick was cool down from earlier."

"Sanji, are you alright?" Nami asked in concern.

Sanji began to spin around in joy. "Of course, Nami-swan. I'm so happy you were worried about me."

Timber looked at the cook in disbelief. "Is this guy serious?"

Meanwhile, Zoro and Ivy weren't having any luck against Caisco. Zoro growled in frustration since none of his attacks had any effect on the former pirate.

"Is this all you have?" Caisco questioned in disappointment. "I can't believe Sahara lost to you."

"God, what's this guy made of?" Ivy asked. "I thought he was just cover in steel, but steel isn't this tough."

Zoro's eyes narrowed. "Tell me, Caisco, does the term Pacifista means anything to you?"

Caisco's eyes seemed to widen for a moment. "I wouldn't expect a pirate from this end of the Grandline to know that name."

"Answer me!" Zoro demanded.

"Very well," Caisco said as he pointed to this armor. "This armor was a prototype for the Pacifista project that the World Government have been working on in secret. It's, however, an incompletely version of the metal that Kuma is currently made from."

"I knew it," Zoro muttered. The moment his swords touched that armor, he knew it was almost the same as Kuma's body. He could never forget how powerful that Warlord was. His wounds throbbed just by thinking about that hopeless battle.

"What are you talking about?" Ivy asked in confusion.

"How did you get such a prototype?" Zoro demanded, not bothering to answer Ivy's question.

"You would be surprise what you can buy on the black-market for the right price," Caisco stated. "Nonetheless, enough talking. I've already spent too much time dealing with you people."

Zoro wasn't completely sure what to do. Even if Caisco's armor was inferior to Kuma's, he still doubted he could cut it even with his steel cutting technique.

At that same moment, he heard a loud battle cry that he would recognize anywhere. Luffy was coming and he sounded pissed.

Caisco looked over to his side and saw several buildings falling in the distance. "It would seem that Strawhat is back."

"Dammit, this isn't good," Ivy cussed. She knew they stood no chance if they had to fight Luffy as well. It was nearly hopeless with just Timber and Caisco.

"Everyone, let's get out of here!" Franky yelled, still carrying Chopper in his arms.

Timber and Sanji were in an even match as they attempted to get the upper hand on each other.

"Do you really think any of you can escape?" Timber asked as he attempted to slash Sanji's leg off.

Sanji knew he wouldn't last much longer with just one good leg. Especially since his speed have been affectedly cut in half.

Timber was about to make another charge when he noticed a dark shadow over his head. He looked up to see that a giant black cloud had somehow formed over him. "Where did that cloud come from?" Something in the back of his mind told him he was warned about something like this.

"Thunderbolt Tempo!" Nami screamed as a rain of lightning hit Timber. Even Sanji was knocked off his feet from the pure power of the attack.

"I still need to work on controlling that," Nami muttered.

"Nami-swan, that was such a shock to my system!" Sanji exclaimed happily, disregarding that she nearly killed him.

"Never mind that, run!" Nami yelled as she and the others took off in the direction of the forest.

Since Sanji couldn't run in his current state, Robin had to be the one to carry him to safety. Something he didn't mind at all. Thankfully, Sanji wasn't that heavy.

Caisco raised his ax and prepared to have his next shockwave to kill all the fleeing pirates.

"Not so fast, big guy!" Usopp yelled as he stood in Caisco's path and aimed his Kabuto.

"Boy, what do you plan to do with such a silly toy?" Caisco questioned neutrally. From the information he have been told about the long nose boy, most of his attacks were based on trickery and had no real power.

"Tobasco Star!" Usopp yelled as he fired at Caisco. Instead of aiming for his armor, however, he hit Caisco right in the opening were his eyes were. For the first time since the fighting had started, Caisco cried in pain as he rubbed his eyes, dropping his ax.

"My eyes!" Caisco roared in pain.

"Let's go!" Usopp yelled as he ran like a bat out of hell. Ivy didn't question him as she grabbed Zoro and half carried him a way from the battlefield.

Their escape came just in time as Luffy came crashing into the area. He had obviously used his Gum Gum Rocket to get back here.

"Where are they!?" Luffy demanded angrily.

Timber was just recovering from the lightning strike when Luffy arrived. "They...they're heading back to their ship." It was embarrassing to have the same pray escaped from him twice.

Luffy's clenched his knuckles. "Not if I have anything to say about that." He then took off in a mad dashed after his crew.

The Strawhats were making good time as they attempted to plan their next move on the run.

"So, what now?" Usopp asked.

"We have to get back to the Sunny and move it," Franky said. "Strawhat knows of our location and they can send for back-up."

"You can't be thinking of leaving Luffy-san here," Brook said in horror.

"Of course not," Zoro all but growled. "But we can't save him at the moment."

"Zoro's right. We need a new plan," Nami said.

"Damn, we were careless to allow those guys to get the jump on us like this," Franky cussed angrily as he glanced down at the motionless reindeer in his arms.

A loud battle cry got their attention again and they soon saw Luffy running right behind them.

"Crap, it's Luffy!" Usopp yelled in horror. He never thought he would be afraid to see his best friend. He could literally see the bloodthirst in his captain's eyes even from their current distance.

"Even when his mind isn't his own, he's just as dedicated as ever to a fight," Robin said with an air of amusement.

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy screamed as he shot one of his fists forward. The attack nearly hit Ivy and Zoro, who were the slower runners in the group.

"Too close," Ivy muttered.

"Let me go and I'll hold him off," Zoro said.

"Like hell," Ivy said. "In the shape you're in, he'll take you out in one blow."

Another pistol came towards the group and went far enough to nearly hit Usopp this time.

Usopp cried in terror as he barely evaded the attack. "Dammit Luffy, stop attacking your crew!"

"You guys me nothing to me!" Luffy yelled back. "Everything I am belongs to Master Zizu."

Everyone in the Strawhats grasped when they heard those words. It filled them with both angered and sadness that a person who valued freedom over anything else was reduced to being a mindless slave.

"Gum Gum Bazooka!" Luffy yelled as he shot his arms forward and nearly hit Zoro and Ivy again.

"This is no good," Ivy said. "At this rate, one of us will be killed."

"We're open to any ideas, Ivy-san," Sanji said.

"We may have to turn and fight him," Robin said.

Ivy thought for a moment. There was one idea that could help. "Follow me!"

She then led the group into a different part of the forest. Luffy was right behind them the entire time and attempted to throw several more punches behind their back.

"Stop running already and let me kick your asses!" Luffy yelled in frustration.

"Hope your plan is a good one," Franky said.

"It should work, but I'll need your help to pull it off," Ivy said. "Over here!" she yelled as she led the group into a thick layer of bushes.

As they kept running they heard what sounded like a loud rushing sound. There was also the smell of fresh water up ahead. Within a few minutes, the small band of pirates was standing next to a cliff to a waterfall.

"Didn't know this place was here," Nami said in awe. When they were finished with this entire business, she needed to returned here and chart the area.

"Quickly, let's hide before Strawhat gets here," Ivy ordered. They quickly did what they were told and not even a moment later, Luffy came charging out from the bushes.

"Where are they?" Luffy asked out loud as he looked around. The vegetation in the area was so thick that he could barely see in front of him. He couldn't have lost them. His master had ordered him to kill everyone, except Robin.

"Looking for me, Strawhat?" Franky asked as he jumped from the bushes and attempted to hit Luffy with his Strong Right. Since he barely had any cola left, however, the attack was both weak and slow. Luffy easily caught it and pulled Franky closer to him.

"Was that all?" Luffy asked as he quickly subdue the cyborg.

While Luffy's attention was on Franky, he almost failed to notice Zoro and Sanji jumping from the bushes and running towards him.

"Tora Gari!" Zoro yelled as he puts his swords over his mouth and swung forth a descending slash.

"Collier!" Sanji yelled as he kicked with his good leg.

Luffy saw the attacks coming and moved out of the way as he swung both of his arms back to hit them with a Bazooka.

"Cyclone Tempo!" Nami yelled as the Clima-Tact hit Luffy's legs, knocking him off-balance enough to slow his movement and making his attack miss. It was also just enough to allow both Sanji and Zoro's attack to hit him and send him flying over the side of the cliff.

Luffy realized in terror that he was about to go over the falls and straight into the rushing water below. Worst yet, none of his allies were around to save him.

With a quick motion he stretched his rubbery arms to the nearest cliff's edge and was able to catch himself before he fell into his watery grave. This gave Luffy time to pause in relief. "Safe."

He then heard a loud rolling sound and look up to see a rock heading straight towards him. Given his position, there was no way he could evade it and he was forced to take the hit head on. He lost his grip over the edge and began to fall again. This time, there was nothing he could do to save himself. Within moment, he felt himself land and sink to the bottom. From there, everything went dark

Zoro watched in both horror and anger as Ivy knocked a boulder over the side that hit his captain into the water.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Zoro yelled. "He has a Devil Fruit! He can't swim!"

"I know that!" Ivy shouted back. "But if we simply left him like that, he would had easily climbed back up and chase us."

"So you just decide to kill him!" Zoro accused.

"I got him!" Franky shouted as he jumped over the edge of the falls.

Ivy sighed. "Let's go. I know where this fall leads."

Everyone was silent as they followed Ivy for several minutes to the point where the river began to calm. They were forced to wait for what felt like an eternity before Franky came swimming down river with the body of their captain in toll.

They all sighed in relief as Franky gently laid Luffy on the beach. "Man, I didn't think I would find him for a moment."

"Quickly, let's tie him up and take him back to the ship," Usopp said. "Maybe Chopper can find a way to cure him."

Ivy shook her head. "Leave him."

Everyone, saved for Robin, turned to look at her in disbelief.

"What do you mean, leave him?" Zoro asked viciously. "That's our captain you're talking about."

"Don't you remember a word I said?" Ivy asked in frustration. "Zizu sees and hears whatever his slave does. If you take him back to your ship, you're only going to give our location a way to them. The next time, Zizu will assure you won't escape."

"But...we can restrain him to a bed or something," Nami offered. "That way he wouldn't know our current location."

"Can you really subdue your captain that easily?" Ivy challenged. "What if he break free and murders you all on your own ship? He's too dangerous as he is now and you don't have the means to help him."

"So, we should just leave him here and let him go back to the enemy!?" Usopp shouted. The tone of his voice took several of the Strawhats off-guard. "Luffy has never abandon us and we won't abandon him now!"

"Listen to reason," Ivy hissed. "If you do managed to free your captain, how do you think he would feel if he was used as a means to track and murder his crew? You have to think of the safety of everyone and not just your own personal feelings."

Robin frowned deeply. "She has a point."

"Robin-san!" Nami exclaimed in disbelief.

"I don't like it either, but there's no guarantee that we will be able to control Luffy once we get him back to the Sunny," Robin stated. "If something were to happen and he got loose, who knows how many of us he would killed before he was stopped. If that happened, Luffy would never be able to forgive himself."

"But...but maybe we can subdue him with sedatives or something," Usopp offered desperately.

Robin shook her head. "The only one who knows how to safely give sedatives is Chopper and he is indisposed at the moment." She glanced at the comatose Chopper in Brook's arms. She then forced herself to look away.

Zoro growled in anger, but he knew both Ivy and Robin's words were true. Luffy was an enemy now and he was the eyes and ears of Zizu. One bad move could lead to all of their deaths. He couldn't allow that.

"We will leave Luffy here, then," Zoro said in an icy tone.

"But..." Nami started.

"We have to think of the safety of the overall crew and many of us are in no condition to fight anymore," Zoro said as he looked over at the still unconscious Chopper. He hadn't stir even after all the commotion. It reminded him too much of his near death state on Skypiea and Enies Lobby.

Sanji sighed. "We have to leave him, Nami-san."

Nami looked closed to tears. She knew everyone was right, but it still hurt.

"We'll come back for him," Sanji assured in a strong voice. "We won't leave him here to be that bastard's slave."

Usopp was also in tears, but raised no further objections.

"Are you sure he would be alright here?" Franky asked as he looked down at Luffy's calm face. He looked so peaceful and nothing like the madman who attempted to kill them just a few minutes ago.

"There's nothing on this island that can kill him," Ivy assured. "And he should regained consciousness within the hour. Which means we have to get back to the ship by that time."

Zoro nodded. "Then, let's move."

Without another word, the Strawhats slowly left the beach and their still sleeping captain. Each of them made a silent vow to return for him.


	11. Reflection

" _Regardless, I need you to forget everything you have seen here,_ " a shadowy figure said and he could see his right eye beginning to glow red.

Luffy wasn't sure what was happening, but it felt like his brain was being pierce with hot pokers. He tried to turn his head from the glowing eye, he tried to protest against the invasion, he tried to screamed for help, but he could do nothing as a foreign presence peered into his mind and read his thoughts and memories. It felt like his skull was going to split in half and he wanted to rip his eyes out to ease some of the pain.

He could see everything from his first fight as a pirate all the way to his battle with Moriah. He was also forced to recall how he met each member of his crew and remembering all of their fights as well. He felt more information being taken from mind as he recalled all his crew's habits, fears, dreams, and even their love ones.

It felt so wrong. It was like he was betraying his crew's trust by letting this thing drill into him. He wanted this thing out of his mind. He wanted to call to his crew to save him from this invasion. Was he crying? His face suddenly felt wet.

Soon he felt himself floating as if he wasn't even in his own body anymore. He could feel nothing of his former self.

" _I see, you're no ordinary pirate,_ " a cold voice echoed in the darkness. "I can use a powerful boy like you in my army."

Army? He didn't want to join in any army. He was a pirate. He had a promised to keep and friends to return to.

" _From this day forward, you shall serve me,_ " the voice continued.

No, he served no one. He became a pirate to have the most freedom on the sea. It was a promise that Ace and him made years ago. It was a promise created on the fallen dream of his beloved second brother, who was killed before he could grasp freedom. Why...why couldn't he remember his name?

" _Your first duty is to lure your crew here,_ " the voice all but whispered in his head. " _I want to test their strength and see if they are too worthy to joining our cause._ "

No, no, no, no, he would never bring his crew here. He would never want them to suffer through this. What was wrong with him? Why was everything floating? Who was this voice anyway and why did he suddenly felt a need to obey it? Like that voice was another piece of his soul.

Master, this voice was his master? He had no master, did he? He was suppose to be free, a pirate correct? Why couldn't he suddenly remember? Why were his memories slipping away from him?

He had a dream, he could remember that much. A dream that he has held dear to his heart since he was a child. He wanted to be the Pirate King for...why couldn't he remember? It had something to do with his hat, a man, and freedom, but it now it slipped his mind. A man...who was this man he was thinking of? Red-hair, he thought he had red-hair, but he wasn't sure.

What was he supposed to do? Yes, he is suppose to lure his crew to his master. His master? His master, Zizu? It was by his command so he would do what he was told. He was Zizu's servant.

* * *

 

Luffy grasped in shock as he woke up from his forced sleep. He blinked several times as the fog began to lift from his mind. Where was he? He remembered trying to catch his crew and he was somehow knocked over the falls. Did he die?

He slowly sat up and knew from the pain in his chest that he was still very much alive. The only way he could have survived was that someone from his crew must have saved him. A foolish gesture on their part. He wouldn't fail to kill them all next time.

He blinked in confusion for several seconds. Why did he want to kill his crew? They were his friends, right? A sudden pang of pain shot through his head as he recalled his orders. He was supposed to kill everyone except Robin. Her knowledge was useful to his master. Still, something told him he was doing something very wrong, but he couldn't recall what exactly.

Luffy slowly stood up and began to look around the area. He wasn't completely sure how long he was out, but he knew that his crew was long gone by now. He knew where the Sunny was docked, but they would have most likely moved the ship by now and he wasn't smart enough to know where they were dock now. His master wouldn't be please.

"Strawhat, are you there?" his master's voice filled his mind.

"Yes, I'm here," Luffy answered through his thoughts.

"What has happened?" his master demanded.

"I've failed, master," Luffy said in shame, although a part of him was happy that his crew had escaped. Why? He was supposed to please his master. He shouldn't feel happy about them escaping.

There was a long paused. "I see. Return to the base for now."

"Okay, master," Luffy said as he began the track back towards the town. Hopefully the walk back will clear his mind and rid himself of the guilt he was suddenly feeling.

* * *

 

Zizu opened his eyes as he sighed in disappointment as he leaned into his chair. Even after all his careful planning he did to give his servants the best advantage, they all had completely failed to kill even one of those pirates. He knew despite their size they were very strong, unlike most crews he had encountered, but that was hardly an excused for any of their failures today, especially from their captain. Having them around was going to severely slow his plan.

"Problems, Zizu?" a cloaked figure asked to his side. Under his cloak he wore an elephant headset that completely covered his face.

Zizu gave him a sideward glance. "Only a minor inconvenience."

"Seems that small crew gave your men some problems," the cloak figure said as he crossed his arms.

"I am ashamed to say that you're correct. I guess it's to be expected from one of the hot new rookies," Zizu stated with a slight sigh. "But this doesn't throw the plan off course."

"You're still going through with it?" the figure asked.

"If the current rumors are true, this is the best chance we'll have to strike a major blow against the World Government," Zizu said.

"Nonetheless, it's still a very dangerous plan. To even consider invading the holy land of Mariejois would be consider suicide, but to also plan the assassination of the Gorosei is downright ludicrous," the other person said. "Even if the marines go to war, they are still very powerful people protecting the heads of the world."

Zizu stood up and looked out one of the windows. "Whether the assassination itself actually succeeds isn't a concern. The physiological impact is what we are going for. Imagine the fear that we will engraved into those old fools' hearts when they learn that we have grown so powerful that we can threaten their lives directly. The heavens themselves will tremble."

The cloaked figure said nothing for a moment. "You know that Dragon wouldn't approved of your plan. He hates throwing lives away if it can be help."

"Winning hearts and minds isn't enough to toppled the powers of the world. Once he sees my results, Dragon won't have much to complain about," Zizu assured. "Besides, what the lives of a bunch of marines, pirates, and sheep who have allowed the government to run over them worth?"

"So, what poor bastards are you going to be sending on this suicide mission?" the other person asked instead.

"I wasn't too sure, but after today's performance I will be sending Timber, Sahara, and Thomas along with half of my main troop," Zizu answered.

"Not Caisco?" the cloaked figure questioned.

"Because of the nature of Caisco's armor and his battle ability, I can't afford for him to fall into the government's hands. He is still, after all, my most valuable warrior," Zizu said. "Besides, he is also one of the few people I have that knows about the New World and I will be needing a new crop of servants soon."

"Which is why you are sacrificing almost all of your elite fighters in this operation," the Revolutionary observed.

Zizu snored. "It is of no big lost. Nearly all of them would be useless in the New World. Today just confirm my suspicions if they can't even handle a bunch of rookie pirates. Better to let them die doing something useful."

"I see and what of Strawhat?" the Revolutionary asked.

"He's kind of an unknown at the moment," Zizu admitted. "He has a lot of potential and could be a far greater vassal than Caisco, especially given the hell have been causing the World Government. However, I won't know for certain if he's worth keeping until he kills his crew. Powerful or not, he's still a rookie."

"Are you even sure the Strawhats will return here? Most pirates would run away from this place, especially after what had happened," the cloaked figure stated.

Zizu chuckled at the question. "Oh they will be back. I can bet my life on that. The Strawhat pirates have an extremely strong bond with each other. They would never leave this island without their precious captain."

The Revolutionary titled his head in thought. "That could be a problem if they can use that bond to break your spell."

Zizu's eyes narrowed. "Don't take my power lightly. You should know better anyone that no bond of friendship or even parenthood can bring someone back from my control. If anything, it would prove to be their downfall since their 'love' for their precious captain will keep them from fighting at their full power."

"Well, they do say pride comes before the fall," the Revolutionary remarked offhandedly.

Zizu chose not to comment on that last statement since he wasn't sure if he was referring to the Strawhats or himself.

"In either case, I will be leaving soon for Baltigo," the cloaked figure said. "I have other reports to give to Dragon and I don't feel comfortable being this close to Marineford."

"Why don't you stick around just a little longer," Zizu stated. "I'm certain Dragon would be happy to finally meet the 'Light of the Revolution'."

The cloaked figure paused for a second. "I think I might take you up on your offer. We have been searching for Nico Robin for the past decade and it seems almost like fate that she would arrive here with a rookie pirate no less," the Revolutionary mused. "After the incident at Enies Lobby, we can't afford the World Government to get their hands on her again. In many ways, we owe Strawhat a great debt."

Zizu nodded. "I will try to make sure my servants don't cause too much bodily harm to her, although there is no guarantee since most them are idiots."

The cloaked figure shook his head.

* * *

 

The rest of the walk back to the Thousand Sunny was a somber one for the remaining Strawhats. They knew they had to hurry back and move their ship before any more people came after them, but the fate of their captain weighed heavily on their hearts. Thankfully, they made it back to the ship without any incident.

"Everyone, prepare to set sail!" Nami yelled, immediately getting everyone on task. "We're going to move the ship to the northern end of the island."

"That's even closer to the village," Ivy informed.

"I know," Nami said neutrally as she took out her chart. It was incomplete, but it still had the general layout of the island. "I don't think the enemy will be expecting us to move closer to their base of operation. It maybe the safest place to go at the moment."

Ivy said nothing more as she helped the pirate crew set sail and moved around the island. Since it would take at least an hour to reached the other side, the Strawhats used their time to tend to their injures.

Of everyone, Chopper was the worst off with a concussion and several bite wounds that covered his body. Zoro wasn't in too good of shape either with all the blood lost and he had to have a blood transfusion. Thankfully, Robin knew how to do a transfusion and she knew Chopper wouldn't mind her going through his supplies.

Franky was also in fairly bad shape from the lost of blood from the wounds on his back. Unlike, Zoro, however, Franky was able to recover from resting.

Almost everyone else had minor to sever cuts and puncture wounds that had to be cleaned, disinfected, and even stitched. No one, except Brook, had any broken bones despite the dark bruises covering their bodies, so they had some good luck.

"This day has been terrible," Usopp said as he leaned against the side of the ship.

"We're still alive and that's what matter," Sanji said as he took out one of his cigarettes. He was going to need another supply run after today.

"But we had to leave Luffy out there," Usopp said in distress. "I mean, who knows what that man is doing to him now.

Sanji closed his one visible eye. "It couldn't be help. We couldn't afford for him to know our new location. We don't want a repeat of earlier."

"I know, but it still sucks," Usopp sighed sadly. "I hope he's okay out there. I mean….I don't want him to be punished for failing to kill us."

"That rubber bastard had bounced back from worst. I doubt there is anything that Zizu guy can do that is worst than him controlling Luffy," Sanji attempted to say in a dismissive tone, but it came off flat. "I better prepare dinner. We all need a good meal to get our energy back." With that, he limped his way into the kitchen.

On the other side of the ship, Brook sighed miserably as he drunk his pint of milk that he had stolen from the kitchen. He could feel his bones heal from the damaged that his new captain inflicted on him. If he still had his flesh, his fracture skull would had broken into his brain and caused untold damaged to him or even killed him.

Regardless, he felt no ill will towards his captain. Even after Luffy had sucker punched him, he still felt terrible for raising his sword against the man who had saved him from the darkness. The wound he had inflicted on Luffy was far from fatal, but it still felt dishonorable to harm the man who had given him back his life and dream. It wasn't Luffy's fault that he no longer had a will of his own.

Breaking himself out of his own self-pity, Brook looked up to see Zoro sitting alone in one of the corners. He wasn't napping like he usual and he was in no shape to train. With recent events, however, Brook doubted that Zoro even had the heart to train at the moment. Although Brook didn't really know the younger swordsman that well, even he could see how upset Zoro was. After all he had done for his captain, including taken all his pain at Thriller Bark, Brook suspected today's events were the hardest on him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Brook asked as he walked towards the fellow swordsman.

Zoro said nothing for a moment. "I've failed him. I should have known something was wrong from the start."

"How could you have guessed what was going to happen?" Brook asked gently. "This isn't your fault."

"I knew something was wrong the moment Luffy switched watch with Usopp and the way he split us up back in the city. But I said nothing both times," Zoro growled in self-loathing. "I also noticed that Luffy seemed distance at both dinner and breakfast yesterday and he kept given those far off looks. He had all the signs of being under that bastard's control and I ignore it."

"In retrospect, yes all the signs were there," Brook said. "But there is no way any of us would had known since the changes were so subtle. I guess….we all underestimated Zizu's influence despite Ivy's warnings."

Zoro suddenly slammed his fists into the deck of the ship, leaving a sizable dent in the floor. "But I should had known. I've known Luffy longer than anyone else on this ship. How could I have been so careless?" He looked to be near tears.

Brook was silent for a moment as he looked at the falling sun. "The past is the past. We can't change our mistakes."

Zoro suddenly felt a pang of guilt for his older crewmate. Brook's facial expressions could be hard to read at times, but he knew Brook was thinking of his old crew. He was the captain when all of them were murdered before his eyes and there was nothing he could do to stop it. At least Luffy was still alive and they still had the chance to save him. Brook was denied even that.

"You have my word as a gentleman and as the former captain of the Rumble Pirates that we will save our captain," Brook said in a calm, but cold voice. It was extremely rare to see him this serious. "We won't leave this island until we bring him back and punished the one who dare twisted him."

Zoro's stared stone-faced at Brook for a moment before he gave a small nod. Yes, they would save their captain. There was no room for failure.

Within another thirty minutes, the Thousand Sunny had reached the new landed point. Somewhere within that same time period, Chopper had finally regained consciousness, but he still wasn't all there. His eyes were unfocused and he had thrown up not long after he had woken up.

Robin was the primary person caring for him since she was the only one outside of Nami and Ivy with any medical experience. Nami was too busy monitoring the ship and Ivy was still a stranger among the Strawhats. Even though they did trust her to some extent, it was a completely different matter to allow her to care for one of their friends. There was also the fact that Ivy was also suffering from sever blood lost and needed the extra rest. Some time during their escape, the wound Sahara had given her had reopened.

Sanji, meanwhile, was in the kitchen fixing a high protein meal to get everyone back into shape. It would be at least a day before the crew was anywhere near heal enough to challenged Zizu again.

Nami all but collapses into her chair as the day's events fully sunk in. She looked around and found herself already missing her captain's unlimited positive energy. Every time they went through a tough or life threatening battle, it was Luffy that seemed to make everything better. Even when the odds were against them, they never lost confident that they would somehow succeed. It was that unshakable faith they had in Luffy that allowed them to follow him into Enies Lobby and stand up to the rising sun at Thriller Bark with no fear.

Now, the symbol of that faith was gone. Taken from them and enslaved by some madman. The thought of Luffy being forced to work and do the bidding of that monster was enough to make her physically ill. Luffy was such a free spirit that it seemed like a crime against nature to do such a thing to him. She was really beginning to understand how Ivy must have felt after all those years chasing her father.

She silently looked at her remaining crew on deck and felt the lack of energy from all of them. No one bothered to try to lighten the mood, not even Brook. In fact, this was the quietest she had ever heard her new crewmember. How ironic that she would usually be complaining about them being too noisy. Now, she would give anything for things to be the way they were just a day ago.

Her hand unconsciously went to her neck and rubbed the bruised that Luffy had given her when he nearly choked her to death. She shivered slightly at the memory. She honestly thought that Luffy was going to kill her at that moment. She knew Luffy wasn't himself, but remembering how his eyes bored blankly into her would hunt her for days and she felt ashamed for fearing her captain over something he couldn't control.

"Nami-san, would you like a nice drink before dinner?" Sanji asked, not using his normal lovesick voice.

Nami shook her head. "If I drink now, I probably won't stop until I'm smash."

Although she had never been drunk in her entire life regardless of how much she drank. The only person on the ship that even came close to matching her alcohol tolerance was Zoro. She briefly mused if she should challenge Zoro one day to a drinking contest. It seemed like a sure fire way to squeeze even more money out of him.

She immediately banished the thought. This wasn't the time to be thinking about something like that.

"Nami-san, if you want to talk about it..." Sanji began in his softest voice, noticing how she was rubbing her neck. He didn't have to ask who had given her those bruises.

Nami shook her head. "There's nothing to talk about. Luffy will be back with us soon, so you better be making a big meal for his return."

Sanji gave a forced smile, knowing she was trying to be strong. "I'll make sure I cook that idiot a lot of meat. Although, it still wouldn't be enough to fill that bottomless stomach of his."

Nami chuckled slightly

"Well, dinner will be ready soon," Sanji said. There was little point talking to Nami any further. It would just be of repeat of everything said earlier.

Ivy watched the crew from her place near the figurehead. She felt for all of them and understood their pain all too well. It was a fate she wouldn't wish on anyone.

Despite the fact that they were pirates and a little on the strange side, she could tell that they were all decent people. In fact, most of the Strawhats seemed like everyday people who would be the last ones anyone would expect to be thieving, murderer pirates. Even Nico Robin, who she had heard was a demon who wanted to destroy the world, seemed like a nice person who genuine cared for her crew.

She had seen many pirate captains be taken by Zizu and eventually forced to murder their crewmates. In almost all those cases, the pirate crew had no real qualms in trying to kill their former captain. Most of them also usually destroyed themselves in power struggles once their captain was lost.

The Strawhats on the other hand were mostly still stable. No one had attempted to rise up and fill the power void and it didn't seem like it was likely to ever happen. They all had complete faith that they would save their captain where most crews would had given up or not even bothered to try. Maybe this was the group that would finally put an end to Zizu and his plan.

Maybe the nightmare from five years ago was finally coming to an end. Maybe she would be able to save her father as well. For the first time in years, she felt her own hope returning.


	12. Battle Plan

Chopper moaned in pain as he slowly opened his eyes. His head felt like someone was sitting on him and each pulse from his veins sent wave after wave of agony. He attempted to clear his vision as a face came into his view. He knew from the smell of flowers and old books that it was Robin.

"Robin..." Chopper slurred.

Robin gently stroked his forehead, easing some of his discomfort. "Try not to move too much. You have a slight concussion. We're currently backed on the Sunny. Everyone is safe and cared for."

Chopper sighed in relief as he closed his eyes for a moment. The day's events quickly came back to him and he hastily reopened his eyes. "What about Luffy? Is he alright?"

Robin couldn't meet the young doctor's eyes as she took a deep breath. "We were unable to retrieve him. He is still under Zizu's influence."

"No..." Chopper whispered. How could this have happened?

"We will get him back, Chopper," Robin said in a voice that left no room for argument or doubt.

Just a couple of mouths ago, she would not had cared what happened to a pirate crew. Ever since she started to run from the World Government, pirates were nothing more than convenience bodyguards to her. She hated the World Government for taking away her home and life, but pirates were rarely any better. Stories like what had happened to Nami were all too common on the Grand Line and she had been part of crews that had wiped out entire villages just because they could.

When she met the Strawhats, she knew they were different; for no other reason then their captain being a carrier of the Will of D. She still thought, however, that they were an overall selfish bunch that would eventually turn on her the moment the iron hand of the government came down on them. For someone who prided herself on being a good reader of people, she was very wrong about this crew.

Not only did they not turn on her, they actually saved her life hundreds of times over. This crew and their captain had given her back her life and a reason to live. Even through she still desired to know the true history of the world, it wasn't the only thing she had to lived for anymore. This was her family and she would make Zizu pay for turning the greatest of them against them.

"What...what do we do now?" Chopper asked softly, breaking Robin from her thoughts.

"We were going to discuss that as soon as you woke up," Robin said. "Are you well enough to walk?"

Chopper gave a small nod. He still felt sick to his stomach, but he wanted to be there when they discussed how they were going to rescue their captain. His own personally needs could wait.

Robin saw right through Chopper's ruse, but chose to say nothing as she picked up the small reindeer. It was a short trip into the kitchen where the rest of the crew had gathered. The gallery was unnaturally quiet and there was still plenty of food on the table. Obviously, no one had much of an appetite.

"Chopper, are you feeling better?" Nami asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, but I have a slight headache," Chopper answered with a slight smile.

"Are you up to eating anything?" Sanji asked from his place at the table.

Chopper paused for a moment before answering. "Just a little."

Sanji nodded as he went to get the plate he specially made for Chopper. As someone who had have more than their fair share of concussions in the past, mostly thanks to Zeff's training from hell, he knew nothing too heavy would stay down.

No one said anything for a moment as Chopper slowly ate his food.

"Our options are limited," Ivy finally said, breaking the silence. "Zizu is preparing for a big operation against the World Government. I don't know the details, but that's why he's stationed himself so close to Redline."

"He's willing to attack the government heads on?" Franky asked in disbelief. Even though Zizu was a jackass, he had balls. In his book, anyone who screws with the World government couldn't be all that evil.

"The marines are preparing for something really big," Ivy said slowly. "There are many rumors, but all the most powerful marines from across the world are coming together at the marine headquarters."

Robin nodded her head in understanding. "It would be the most ideal time to launch an attack when the eyes of the government are looking elsewhere." But she wondered, what could be so important that the government would gather their entire marine's force?

"Who cares about any of that," Zoro growled impatiently. "Our main priority is getting our captain back. I don't give a damn about what Zizu's motives are."

"The reason why I brought this up is because the current situation can be use to our advantage," Ivy stated in mild annoyance from Zoro's behavior. "Zizu obviously has a lot at stake with his plan and I doubt he would bring together his strongest fighters again just to deal with us."

"So, we should have an easier time sneaking in," Nami said.

"In theory," Ivy said.

"Then what?" Usopp asked. "We still have Luffy to deal with."

"Strawhat is only a distraction. If we're to end this once and for all, we have to find Zizu and destroy his right eye," Ivy stated. "With that eye destroyed, Zizu's power should shatter."

"In other words, if we confront Luffy, we should ignore him or try to fight pass him," Sanji said.

"Easier said than done," Franky said as he tapped his figures. "For the most part, Strawhat was going easy on us today. I doubt he would make that mistake again."

Ivy looked at the cyborg in surprise. "You call what he did going easy?" She may have missed the fight, but she saw the bruises and wounds Strawhat left on his crewmates. Not to mention the chase through the forest.

"When Luffy gets really serious he's close to unstoppable," Zoro said in a soft voice.

"Why don't we try to lure him towards some water," Chopper suggested.

Franky shook his head. "Already done that, bro. I doubt Strawhat would fall for such that trick again."

"Well, it is Luffy," Usopp said. "I mean, he's fairly easy to trick."

"Even so, I doubt Zizu would allow Luffy to be tricked like that again," Robin said. "I suspect that Zizu will be keeping a close eye on Luffy to assure he completes his mission if we return."

"Looks like we may have no choice but to fight pass him," Nami said with a slight sigh.

"When the times comes, I shall handle Luffy-san," Brook said, causing everyone to turn towards him.

Sanji snorted as he took a puff of his cigarette. "No offense, Brook, but I doubt you could hold Luffy for five minutes. If anyone is going to handle that shitty captain, it will be me."

"No, I can do it you guys," Usopp spoke up. His voice had none of his usual cowardliness. "I actually fought Luffy directly before and I know how to distract him."

"This is completely different and you know that." Sanji said sternly as he turned towards the sniper. His face was firm with both worry and anger. "Despite whatever Luffy said before that fight, he didn't fight you seriously or with the intention of killing you. Now, he won't show any regards towards your life. You also don't have the advantage of planning ahead of time."

Usopp paled slightly but returned the cook's stare. "But..."

"Luffy is my responsibility, I will take care of him," Zoro said in a cold voice, interrupting Usopp.

"Shithead, need I remind you about your condition," Sanji said more harshly than he meant to, but he had to get it through Zoro's thick skull that he was in no shape to fight Luffy. In the shape he was currently in, Brook would had stood a better chance.

"I don't think it's realistic to believe that any of us can fight Luffy individually," Robin said calmly. "The end result would undoubtedly be death given that Luffy will try to kill us and we don't have that same desire."

"But it will just be to hold him off," Nami said.

"Still won't work," Robin stated. "Our best chance is to gang up on Luffy and defeat him quickly if we are unfortunate enough to run into him."

"Dammit, how hell did Strawhat fall under Zizu's spell, anyway!?" Franky exclaimed angrily as he slammed his fist into the table, nearly breaking it in half. "He was never out of our sights for long. At most, he was gone for no more than two or three hours yesterday."

Ivy looked away for a moment. "From what Zizu said, it was an accident."

"Accident?" Zoro nearly growled.

"I doubt Zizu would lie about this, but he said he only wanted to erase Strawhat's memories of finding the island. But his mind broke easily and he was able to seize control of his thoughts in just moments," Ivy explained. "I honestly have never met or heard anything about a person who had absolutely no defense to a mental invasion, so I don't know how truthful Zizu is being. He could have been purposely exaggerating."

Nami frowned as she rubbed her forehead. "Zizu wasn't exaggerating. Luffy is easily hypnotized." It would be almost funny if things weren't so serious at the moment.

Usopp nodded his head in agreement as he remembered the fight against Jango and the Color Traps from Little Garden.

Ivy titled her head. "Is he really that bad?"

"Luffy is very innocent as well as him being a moron," Zoro answered bitterly. "Despite all of Luffy's strength, he would have been absolutely helpless against Zizu's powers."

Zoro was beginning to feel sick as he remembered how he didn't even want to go after Luffy after he ran off the Sunny. He had to be blackmailed by Nami for him to barely make a half-ass attempt to find his captain. Even after everything that had happened at Thriller Bark, when he had taken his captain's suffering, he still foolishly assumed that Luffy could take care of himself and he didn't need a babysitter.

How could he have been so stupid? If he had went after Luffy, he would had been by his captain's side when he encountered Zizu. He could have snapped his captain out of his trance and beat the ever loving shit out of that Zizu bastard. He had failed his captain and his crew.

Sanji glanced at the desolated swordsman. He could feel the guilt radiating off of Zoro and he couldn't bear to look at his rival. No one blamed him for any of this, but the shitty swordsman always took responsibility when something happened to the crew when Luffy was gone. It wasn't like any of them could have predicted that this would happen.

"Maybe Luffy-san can break the spell himself if we encourage him," Brook suggested, trying to bring Zoro out of his slump. "Even if he has a weak mental defense, he still has a powerful will."

"As I told you yesterday, I only know of one person who broke free of Zizu's spell and given how fast he had broken your captain, I highly doubt Strawhat can put up much of a resistance," Ivy said. "If will alone could defeat Zizu, he would had never obtain most of his slaves, including my father."

"Well, how did that one person do it?" Chopper asked, his headache was feeling much better after eating.

Ivy bit her lips in thought. "From what he could tell me, he was only able break free after he had stabbed his pregnant wife through the stomach." Everyone in the room grasped at the information. "He said her last words to him were, 'no matter what happens, I forgive you'. Somehow, that was enough for him to shattered Zizu's influence. Although the damage have been done and he now lives his life in seclusion unable to overcome what had happened."

Robin put his hand to her mouth as if to hide her emotions. "So, emotional stress can shatter the control."

"From what I've personally witness, it was a fluke at best," Ivy answered bitterly. "No one else was able to broke free after they were forced to murder their love ones in cold blood."

"Maybe it wasn't the action itself, but the words," Robin said mostly to herself. "Maybe the words had a deeper meaning to him that allowed him to wake up."

"Does it really matter?" Sanji asked as he let out several puffs of smoke. "We can end it all by defeating Zizu. Luffy himself isn't our main concern."

Ivy sighed and nodded. "You make it sound so easy."

"Well, that is the only sure way we know of to save Luffy," Nami stated. "As you said, we can't depend on Luffy snapping himself out of it."

"I guess the only real question that is left is how are we going to approach Zizu's base," Ivy said as she looked at each of Strawhats. "Although Zizu can no longer spy on us, he still has access to your captain's memories. He will have an idea what to expect from all of you."

Nami leaned back into her chair. "Zizu maybe expecting us to make a direct attack since that is the strategic we usually use."

"Actually, we usually end up taken the direct approach because of Luffy," Usopp corrected.

"That is true. Maybe he will assume that we will not be as bold without our captain," Robin stated.

"Maybe, but just walking through the front door will be very dangerous," Ivy said. "We could split into two groups to infiltrate the base. One group could take the front and while the other team takes the back. Ivy paused for a moment. "Splitting up, however, had proven to be disastrous today."

"But Zizu won't know how we're divided this time," Chopper said. He was starting to feel much better.

"Maybe so, but he sees what his slaves see," Ivy said. "Once anyone of his servants spots us, it would be a simple task for him to summon one of his strongest fighters to counter us just like he did today."

"Then, we should stay together," Brook said as he remembered their fight against Oars. "We're, after all, stronger when we work as a team."

Robin nodded. "That seems to be our best option. We, however, still need to decide where we should enter."

Zoro put his head down for a moment. "We will enter from the side. They may expect us to be bold as usual, but they would also suspect that we would sneak in through the back or divide our numbers. They will cover all their bases on those ends, so their sides maybe unprotected."

"That's a pretty good plan, moss head," Sanji said before he began to look at Zoro suspiciously. "Did you somehow get possess too?"

"Shut up, you pervert!" Zoro yelled.

"For now, let's get some rest," Nami said. "We will be no good if we are dead tire."

"I shouldn't sleep since I still have a concussion," Chopper said. His speak was still slurred. "But I should be well enough now to properly treat everyone's wounds."

"Chopper, you should not push yourself," Robin said worriedly

"No, I'm fine now," Chopper assured. "I would never treat anyone if I wasn't in my right mind."

"I'm certain you'll take good care of everyone," Nami told Chopper with a small.

"You jerk!" Chopper exclaimed with a smile while he clapped his hooves. "Your words don't make you happy!"

Ivy raised an eyebrow as she looked at the rest of the crew.

"You'll get use to it," Usopp said with a laugh. It was good to have something normal happened for a change. It felt like a lifetime since anyone had really laughed.

* * *

 

Luffy returned to the base some time before sunset. He was greeted with slight nods from his 'comrades', but no one bothered to talk to him. It was all fine by him since his mind was still reeling from earlier. Although, he could no longer remembered what had upset him so much. Then again, there was a lot of things he couldn't remember.

"It is about time you've returned," Thomas said as he met Luffy at the door of the main compound.

"Where is everyone?" Luffy asked.

"They're in the infirmary," Thomas answered. "Your crew did a fine job ruffling up everyone. This is the first time I have ever seen anyone injure Caisco." He then began to chuckle. "Aiming for his eyes, why didn't I think of that."

Luffy felt a sense of pride swell in his chest before a hot pain shoot through his head and buried that feeling. They were his enemy. He shouldn't feel proud of his former crew hurting his teammates. It was still funny, however.

"I'll go and check on them," Luffy said as he began to walk down the hall.

"Strawhat, do you even know where the infirmary is?" Thomas asked impatiently. Luffy stopped for a moment when he realized he had no clue where anything was around here. Thomas gave a loud sigh. "Follow me."

They walked down several hallways filled with twists and turns until they reached a large room with several beds. There were several people inside; including people Luffy recalled fighting yesterday. For some reason he couldn't remembered why he had even fought them. They were all on the same side, right?

"Is everyone okay?" Luffy asked as he walked over towards Sahara and Timber who were on the far side of the room.

Sahara's entire left hand was covered in bandages and Luffy could tell that she was in a lot of pain, despite her best effects to hide it. Timber was also covered in bandages and had ointment on him to treat his burns. He was also shaking slightly.

"Damn that woman and her lightning," Timber growled as he attempted to stop himself from shaking.

"Master warned you about that," Luffy said casually.

"We were all careless," Sahara said in shame. "I didn't think that half-dead swordsman could move so fast."

"One doesn't get as high of a bounty as him by being a weakling," Thomas said as he sat on one of the nearby beds.

Sahara glared at Thomas. "I would have finished them all if you that brat, Ivy, had not interfered. You were supposed to handle her."

Thomas closed his eyes for a moment. "There were some….unforeseen problems."

"Like you showing mercy towards your daughter," Sahara stated.

Thomas glared coldly at Sahara. "You should have been able to finish the Pirate Hunter's group before Ivy even arrived."

Sahara could say nothing to counter that argument.

"The fact is, our performances today were a disgrace to our master," Thomas said in shame.

Luffy slammed his fists together. "I'll kill them all next time for sure. I'll make them pay for disgracing us." He felt a slight coldness in his stomach, but he chose to ignore it.

"Killing ones' crew isn't that easy," Timber said before he gave a slight smirk. "I should know."

Luffy looked towards the Zoan user. "When did you kill your crew?" The question left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Timber paused in thought. "I would have to say it was two or so years ago. I don't remember the details too much anymore. In fact, most of my life before I started working for Zizu is a blur."

"Really?" Luffy asked in awe. So, he wasn't the only one.

"I remember wanting to be a pirate so I can fight any time I wanted and do as I please," Timber said as he reflected on is former life. His eyes seemed to become clear for a moment. "I...I wasn't too close to my crew. I respected their strength, but our relationship didn't get any deeper than that. But...I think I was sad when I murdered all of them...I can't remember. I can't even remember any of their faces anymore."

"My experience is somewhat similar," Sahara said in a far off voice. "I had an unit I trusted with my life and friends. However, most of the time I spent with them is nothing more than shadows now. I still, however, remember clearly the night that I slaughter all of them. I remembered the look of betrayal, fear, and hatred in their eyes before I ended each of their lives."

Luffy could feel his heart freeze. He recalled how his own crew had looked at him after he had punched Brook. Nami grasping for air and looking at him with those pleading eyes also unnerved him. Their stares from his crew cut him deeply, but he was forced to bury those feelings. He was given a mission and he was determined to carry it out.

Luffy glanced at Thomas who had his head down and eyes close. He didn't say it, but Luffy knew that the older man was thinking about his daughter and maybe the people he had killed in his village.

"Our former lives mean nothing," a deep voice said.

Luffy turned to see a tall man with dark blond hair and green eyes staring down at them. It took him a moment to realize it was Caisco without his armor. The man looked younger than he expected. He couldn't have been any more than forty.

"When our master called us to his service we left our old lives behind and devoted ourselves completely to him," Caisco said in an emotionless voice. "Our dreams, desires, and hope lie only to serving him and achieving his goals."

His dreams? He did have a dream before coming him right? Yet, he couldn't remember what it was. It was like something was blocking his memory of his deeper desire. Now that he thought of it, why did he wear the strawhat on his head? Something inside him told him that it was important, but he couldn't remember why.

The gaps in his memories scared him for a moment before he felt a voice that wasn't his own assured him that everything was fine. He didn't need his memories because he had his master and he would find happiness in his service. He was Zizu's tool and that was all he needed to know.

"You're right," Luffy said to Caisco. "Our old lives mean nothing. We are all here to serve our master and will do so to the very end."

Thomas nodded in agreement as he opened his eyes. "Well said."


	13. Counter-Attack

Given the tough day everyone had it was decided by Timber to play a game of cards to help everyone relax. Being a pirate the two games that he suggested were blackjack or poker.

Luffy was never good at those games since he had a tendency to always ended up with the wrong number of cards at any given time and wanted to play something more active like tag or twister. Needless to say, he was outvoted. Although, he did get Timber to vote on twister purely because he wanted to see Caisco try to bend over a small mate.

"Dammit, Sahara I know you're cheating!" Timber growled as he threw his cards down.

"I am not. You just suck at blackjack," Sahara said arrogantly. "You're lucky we're not playing for money."

"What!?" Timber growled.

Sahara smiled sweetly at him. "Besides, I was once the reigning champ at my old base. You never stood a chance."

Caisco was stone-face as he reshuffled the cards. "I was always more of a poker person."

"I guess you would since you usually wear a mask," Sahara stated. "How would anyone guess if you were bluffing or not?"

Timber snorted. "Even without his mask he has the emotions of a pet rock."

Sahara chuckled. "That's true."

"Hey Thomas, why don't you play with us?" Timber asked. "Even a tight wad like Caisco knows when to have fun."

Caisco gave Thomas a quick glare.

Thomas turned his face away from his comrades. "I don't play silly games."

Luffy frowned. "But cards aren't silly. I played all the time with my...old crew."

"Thomas doesn't know how to play blackjack," Caisco informed casually, causing Thomas to jerk in place.

Timber began to laugh. "No problem, we can always teach you."

"Just like you try to teach me poker, right?" Thomas asked in annoyance.

"Not my fault you believed a straight flush beat a full house," Timber teased.

"Or a flush meant you owed the other players money," Sahara also added.

"And a three of a kind was an automatic lost," Caisco finished as he passed out the cards.

Luffy began to laugh. They were just like his owe crew. Usopp used to pull those tricks on him all the time. It hardly mattered, however, since Nami usually beat the crap out of them at any game of cards. "How long have all of you been together anyway?"

"I have been here the longest," Sahara answered as she grabbed her cards. "I think it has been closed to seven or eight years now."

"Wow, that's a long time," Luffy said in awe as he slapped the soles of his sandals together.

Sahara nodded. "Master came to me after my unit arrested some of his companions during a raid. Originally I was only taken to free his comrades, but I proved to be so useful that he kept me."

Luffy then looked at Caisco. "How about you?"

"There isn't much to say about my past," Caisco stated. "I left it all behind when I joined Zizu."

"But there must be something you remember," Luffy said.

Caisco paused for a moment. "Almost all of my memories have been lost, but I do remember coming back from the New World. That ungodly sea nearly took my life a number of times. It took more than half my crew before I returned to Paradise."

"So, the mighty Iron Wall got his butt handed to him in the New World and came running back to safer seas," Timber said in a mocking voice.

"Don't take the New World lightly, boy," Caisco sneered as he slammed his hand onto the table. "Only gods, demons, and monsters can survive on those seas. I sailed that sea for over a year while you took it easy terrorizing helpless citizens and weak marines. You haven't even begun to see what true hell looks like."

Luffy glazed at Caisco for a long moment. He remembered hearing a similar warning, but he couldn't remember from whom.

"Don't worry. When Zizu takes me to the New World, I will be more than ready," Timber said confidently.

"How do you know you will even be going to the New World?" Caisco asked. There was a sensed of foreboding in his voice.

Timber said nothing, but he did growl at Caisco as his words sank in.

"Luffy, you haven't been to the New World, right?" Sahara asked, quickly getting off the subject.

"No, I was just sailing there with my crew," Luffy answered.

"Then, it was for the best you were stopped here," Caisco stated. "If your crew can't handle the likes of us, you wouldn't last long within the New World."

"I think you give us too little credit," Timber mused, getting back his previous humor.

"All this New World stuff bores me," Thomas said, getting everyone's attention. "But I guess that's what happens when you're young and ambitious."

Sahara looked towards Thomas. "That's right, you were only a mere farmer before Zizu called you."

"I can barely remember that life," Thomas admitted. "Not that it matters now."

"You were just a farmer and you can wield a sword that well?" Timber asked in surprise. "Huh, if you were really serious, you could have been as good as Mihawk."

Thomas snorted. "I could never be anywhere near that good. Besides, I never desired the fame of being the greatest swordsman. I learned the sword to protect those I care for, nothing more."

There was a cruel irony as Luffy thought of Ivy's story, but the memory was quickly suppressed and forgotten.

"But you have nothing to protect now, old man," Timber said, voicing Luffy's fleeting thoughts.

"No, I do," Timber said as he looked up at the ceiling. "I have all of you."

Everything stopped as everyone stared at Thomas in shock. Luffy, like all of them, were expecting him to say Zizu's name. Not invoke all of them.

"Thomas..." Sahara whispered.

"You all are my family," Thomas finished.

"I guess over the years we have formed a strange group," Caisco said. His voice lacked its usual coldness. It was actually tight with barely contain emotions. "A group united under the will of our master."

Sahara nodded. "We have seen death together and fire forms friendship that goes beyond ones' upbringing. Pirate, marine, or peasant; none of that matters here."

"How poetic," Timber attempted say in his usual snide voice, but it lacked any power. "But enough talk. Cut the cards."

They spent the rest of the evening playing several round of Black Jack, all which Sahara handly won, before calling it a night.

Luffy, however, quickly found that he was too restless to sleep. Visions and sounds that he could no longer recognized filled his dreams, causing him to toss and turn in the medical bed.

Sahara said that the first night was usually roughest since he was still objecting to his new life. A part of Luffy, however, didn't want to object to his new life. He wanted to go back to his crew and achieved his dream. Although, he couldn't remember what his dream even was. He just knew it was important.

"Strawhat, come to me," the voice of his master whispered in his mind. Before the words even fully penetrated his thoughts, his body was up and climbing out of the infirmary bed.

He gave a quick look around to see that Timber, Sahara, and Caisco were also up. They must have received a summons as well.

"Strange, he usually doesn't physically call us," Sahara noted as they began their walked towards Zizu's office.

It was strange since their master could talk to them through their thoughts and had no physically need to see or talk to them. Luffy could only guess that it had to be something important.

It took only a few minutes to reached the office and none of them were too surprise to see that Thomas was also there. His face was blanked as he waited for everyone to come in.

Now that Luffy thought about it, he also felt no emotion. Everything seemed to be moving on its own and it didn't even feel like he was capable of feeling anything. The numbness frightened him for a moment, but the voice in his head calmed him and he felt as ease again.

Luffy was jerked out of his thoughts as Zizu looked at each of them.

"I called you here to talk about the coming attack from the Strawhat pirates," Zizu stated. "If their record is anything to go by, the should be returning here any day now."

"Do you want us to prepare to welcome them again?" Timber asked eagerly. He was more than looking forward to some payback.

"You will do nothing," Zizu said firmly. "As of now you will be preparing for a different mission."

The statement took Timber back. "Master..."

"You, along with Sahara and Thomas, are to prepare for the assault on Mariejois," Zizu said.

Luffy could feel all the air being sucked out of the room. He looked at each of his companions in confusion. Why did they look so stun and even upset? The name Mariejois sounded familiar, but he couldn't recalled its important.

"So, we were chosen," Thomas said somberly. He sounded almost betrayed and his eyes seemed to burn with righteous anger.

Zizu gave him an odd smile. "This is an honor. You will go down in history and bring new life to our cause. Don't tell me you don't like my decision?"

Thomas' face twisted in pain for a moment before his eyes fog over again and he lost all his previous emotions. The sight unnerved Luffy.

"Forgive me for questioning you, master," Thomas said humbly with a slight bow. "We will do our mission to the best of our abilities."

Sahara also looked upset, but chose to say nothing.

Timber, on the other hand, was shaking and his teeth were bear. It looked almost like the Zoan user would actually attack their master. Zizu didn't even bother to talk to Timber, but his right eye pulse and in an instant even Timber was subdue.

"I supposed that just leaves me and Strawhat to deal with the pirates," Caisco stated once everything had calmed down.

"It will be Strawhat's job to deal with his crew," Zizu said as he looked towards Luffy. "I'm given you this one last chance. Don't disappoint me again."

Luffy could feel the weight of those words and he felt an immediately need to please his master. He wanted to succeed. For the first time he truly wanted to defeat and murder his crew. Whatever voice or reason he felt before that told him that those thoughts were wrong started to fade away.

"It will be done," Luffy said without a hint of hesitation. Even he was surprise by how clear his voice sounded.

Zizu then began to pace. "Given what we know of that crew, they are most likely going to take the direct approach. But what do you think, Strawhat?"

Luffy was taken off-guard by the question. His master could just read his thoughts and memories. Why did he need to ask him anything?

He quickly put those questions aside as he considered the answer. "If they are led by Zoro, they will take the front and force their way in. But, if they listen to Nami, they will sneak in from the back and stay quiet."

"And, do you think they will split up again?" Zizu questioned further.

"I...I'm not sure. They will be more careful since we did come close to killing them," Luffy answered.

Zizu looked at him for a long moment before he seemed satisfied about something. "Very well. You're all dismissed."

They all nodded their heads before they quickly left the room. The atmosphere for the most part was somber and tense.

"How did I get pick to go to Mariejois?" Timber asked out loud once they were far enough from the office.

"Be quiet, you've been given a great honor in being chosen," Caisco said. "I would gladly lay down my life if it meant advancing our master's dream."

Timber seemed conflicted for a moment before he calmed down.

"I guess it make sense I would be chosen to go," Sahara said solemnly. "I was a former marine and I do have knowledge of the holy land. If they haven't changed it too much after it was burnt down, my information should still be good."

"Mariejois, what is that?" Luffy finally asked.

All of them looked at Luffy liked he had grown a second head.

"You're kidding right?" Thomas asked in a tight voice.

Luffy continued to give him a blank stare.

Timber began to laugh. "This is rich. Someone actually doesn't know what Mariejois is."

"Mariejois is the heart of the World Government and is the home of the Gorosei," Caisco answered. "If you don't know, the Gorosei are the five men that runs the entire world."

Most of the information flew over Luffy's head, but he nodded anyway. "So, what is your mission with them?"

"We're going to kill them," Thomas answered casually.

Luffy blinked at the news. "Kill them?"

"We have been given the most important assignment to climb the Redline and invade the holy land itself," Sahara explained further. "From there, we will sneak into the capital and attempt to take the Gorosei's lives."

"Sounds dangerous," Luffy said in awe.

"We will succeed," Thomas said, although it sounded force. "It is out master's will."

"You shouldn't be concern with their mission," Caisco said coldly. "You have your own assignment."

Luffy nodded. His crew would be returning soon and he had to be ready. His comrades would be fine. Although, he still felt a cold feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. It felt like they were all hiding something from him.

He supposed it wasn't really important. His master would inform him if it were something to be concern about.

* * *

 

The night was equally restless for the remaining Strawhats and no one got much sleep. The crew awoke to a huge breakfast prepared by Sanji, who was currently cleaning the cooking pans.

"I fixed too much food," Sanji said simply without turning towards any of his crewmates. Everyone understood and silently ate their breakfast.

"Once we're finished, we will head to the base," Zoro stated.

Ivy was a surprise by the announcement. "So soon? Many of us are not fully recovered."

"We don't have much time before they eventually find us," Zoro said. "The island isn't that big and it will only take one person to report us to the rest."

"I know that. Still, none of us are at one-hundred percent," Ivy stated as she glanced down at her still bandaged chest.

"Neither is the enemy," Zoro said firmly. "They will all still be hurting from yesterday too, so we should be about equal."

Ivy heavily doubted that, but she knew it was pointless to argue with him. She could tell by the harden looks on the pirates' faces that there was no stopping them. Even the more rational members of the crew nodded their heads in agreement with Zoro.

"Then, this is it," Nami said with determination. "Today, we will take back our captain."

Breakfast went by quickly after that. Once all the food was gone, the small pirate crew wasted no time walking onto the deck. The day was very similar to yesterday morning, except no one the crew spoke as they marched away from their ship.

The atmosphere was completely silent and all the Strawhats had blank expressions. For the older crewmembers it reminded them of their march towards Arlong Park. Nothing was said and nothing needed to be said. Within less than a half of hour, they were back at the town.

Usopp used his goggles to scan the area and he was surprise to see that the town wasn't empty like the other day. It was now filled with people with guns waiting for them. "Looks like they were expecting us."

"Not surprising," Franky said. "Should we blast our way through?"

"Let's keep going for now until we find an opening," Nami advised.

Silently, they moved further to the side, looking for any blind spots. They soon came to an area that was thinly defended with only three guards.

"I can handle this," Robin said as she crossed her arms. Within moments, the guards were subdued and a loud crack filled the air followed by several dull thugs.

Once the guards were disabled, Robin bloomed several eyes within the area to make sure that there were not anymore guards. She then nodded her head when she was certain that the coast was clear.

The Strawhats quickly made their inside, without raising a sound.

Ivy was quite impressed that this normally loud pirate crew could move so soundlessly when the time was right. Each time they saw a guard, Robin would take them out with such sheath and cold precision that Ivy briefly wondered if she had done this before. Then again, she suspected for anyone to survive so long against the World Government at just eight years old one would have to get their hands dirty.

"This place is huge," Chopper said in awe once well within the main compound. They were currently standing in what appeared to be the main floor of the building. It was very open space and there was a staircase nearby.

Sanji briefly looked around. "Where do we start looking for that bastard?"

Nami looked towards Chopper. "Can't you track Zizu with your nose?"

Chopper shook his head. "I have no idea what Zizu smell like." He then sniffed the air anyway. "But I can smell Luffy."

Everyone stiffened when they heard this.

"Is he nearby?" Franky asked.

Chopper shook his head. "The scent is fairly old. I don't think he has been by here in awhile."

"Well, that some good news," Sanji said as he blew some smoke from his mouth.

Chopper's ears suddenly perked. "Someone is coming."

All the Strawhats quickly quieted down.

"I'm surprise that there haven't been any sign of that pirate crew," a voice down the hall said. The Strawhats could see the shadows of two figures walking down one of the side hallways.

"They will come," another voice assured. "Just keep your eyes open."

Ivy's eyes narrowed. "That voice..."

"What is it, Ivy-san?" Sanji questioned.

"That voice belongs to Zizu," Ivy said.

That was all the crew needed to hear. After all the pain that man had caused them, even the most passive member on the crew wanted to tear him apart.

Just as those murderous thoughts passed through their minds, Zizu and another man rounded the corner. Needless to say, neither one of them were expecting the Strawhats to be standing there glaring at them.

"What the hell!?" the other man exclaimed in surprise as he quickly took out his gun. "How do you get in here!?"

"I underestimated you again," Zizu mused. Once the shock had worn off, he looked at each of the Strawhats with an impassive eye. "I didn't expect you t to get this far without rising my noticed. Maybe you're not as reckless as your captain suggested."

"Big mistake on your part," Zoro growled as he took out his swords. They all lust for his blood.

The other man took aim and attempted to shot Zoro, but he was stopped right in his tracks when an egg suddenly smacked him in the face.

"Urgggg, this thing is rotten!" the man exclaimed in disgust as he wiped his face.

Zizu raised an eyebrow at the strange attack.

Robin used the distraction to finish him off by blooming several hands around the man's body and nearly snapping his back in half. She was normally not this 'merciful', but she knew the man was just a puppet in all of this and didn't deserve to be paralyzed.

Zizu the entire time didn't even look a bit worried or blinked as his servant fell lifelessly to the floor. "Most of my men really are no matched for you. I guess it's to be expected from those who only made a name for themselves in the Blue seas."

Franky pointed his cannon at Zizu. "I wouldn't worry about your 'men'. This all ends now."

Zizu smirked at cyborg as his right eye began to glow. "Don't you think you're being little too overconfident?"

"Weapons Left!" Franky yelled as she shot several rounds at Zizu. The attack hit, but the cannons passed right through Zizu. "The hell!?"

"Franky, where are you aiming?" Usopp asked. "He's over there."

Franky looked to his right to see Zizu standing several feet away from where he originally was standing just a moment ago. "What...how that bastard move that fast?"

Zoro and Sanji asked no questions as they both ran towards Zizu. Zoro did an upper slash into Zizu's chest and Sanji kicked him in the neck with enough force to break it. They, like Franky, both ended up hitting air.

"What the..." Zoro muttered in shock.

"Did he move again?" Sanji asked as the image of Zizu faded before them.

Brook used his amazing speed to attempt to cut Zizu's head off, but he also hit an illusion.

"Don't look into his eye!" Ivy warned. "When you do, he can put you into a type of trance that can makes you see illusions."

"Wish you would had warned us sooner," Franky grumbled.

Usopp rubbed his eyes as the hallway filled with Zizu's images. "What, so we have been under his spell this entire time?"

"You pirates are so simple-minded. You think pure brute force and power means anything in this kind of fight," Zizu said in a bored tone. "Hard to believe you made it this far in the world when you can fall for such a simple trick. Then again, given how easily I broke your captain, I shouldn't be surprise."

"Bastard…" Zoro growled.

"Seis Fleur!" Robin exclaimed as six arms wrapped themselves around Zizu's real body. Zizu was mildly surprise as he looked towards Robin and saw that both of her eyes were close. "Now I know I got the real one."

"Great job, Robin!" Nami cheered.

"So, you're the infamous Nico Robin, the Devil Child," Zizu said stated. He didn't even look uncomfortable in Robin's grip.

Robin's eyebrows narrowed at the name. "Don't you ever call me by that cursed nickname." She tightened her hold even more.

"Regardless, my boss have been eager to meet you for quiet awhile," Zizu went on, taken no mind of her anger. "Why don't you willingly come with me before you get hurt. If you cooperate, I may even spare your crew."

"Don't insult me," Robin spat. "I would never go anywhere with the likes of you. Especially after what you have done to Luffy."

Zizu gave a heavy sigh. "Then, we have to do this the hard way."

Before Robin could break every bone in his body, she was suddenly knocked to the ground by a powerful kick to her back.

"Robin!" Chopper exclaimed in surprise.

The rest of the Srawhats turned around to see Luffy standing some distance a way. His leg retracted back to him just as Robin's hands disappeared from Zizu's body.

"You're late," Zizu scolded, mildly annoyed.

"Sorry, I'm still not use to these hallways," Luffy answered sheepishly.

"Luffy..." Chopper whispered with tears in his eyes.

"Dammit, this entire fight was just a distraction," Sanji cussed.

Brook shook his head. "We wasted so much precious time because of his trickery."

"I told you not to overestimate yourselves," Zizu said casually.

Zoro stared at his captain for a moment. This was really the first time he could clearly see Luffy's brainwashed state. He looked no different than usual, which made him even angrier. Zizu could have least altered his personality to make seeing him like this a little easier.

"Luffy, snap out of it!" Zoro yelled, although he already knew it was futile. At this moment, Luffy was beyond their words.

Zizu chuckled in amusement. "My power is not that easily broken. But enough talk. Strawhat, finished these worthless pirates off." He then glanced at Robin. "Except her."

Luffy smiled as he glared at his former crew. "As you wish, master."


	14. Captain vs. Crew

The Strawhats stared at their captain as he continued to grin at them. It was the normal smile he gave just before any big fight. It shone with confidant and self-assurance that usually put the crew at ease. It was that indomitable spirit that had led them this far and protected them from even their worst enemy. It told them that he would win, no matter what. To see that same look now pointed at them was more than unnerving.

"Luffy, you don't have to do this," Usopp attempted to reason with the boy captain. "That guy is controlling you."

Luffy's grin never waver. "My master gave me an order and I plan to do it." Without another word, he charged towards his former crew.

Usopp squealed in terror as Luffy came upon him before he could even blink. He was saved, however, when Sanji kicked Luffy on his side, knocking him off course.

Sanji continued his assault with several fast kicks to Luffy's head, but the rubberman was able to dodged most of them and the ones that did hit did little to no damage.

Both Zoro and Brook used this time to sneak beside Luffy and attempted to hit him with the blunt side of their swords. Luffy turned around and caught each of their blades with ease.

"If you're going to fight me, you won't be able to half-ass it!" Luffy exclaimed as he pushed the swords back. "Gum Gum Whip!" he yelled as he attempted to trip both of the swordsmen. They were able to jump safely away, but they were then hit by a backhand from Luffy.

"Strong Hammer!" Franky yelled as his exoskeleton fist slammed into Luffy's stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Chopper also ran towards the group and gave Luffy a powerful left hook, which sent him tumbling across the floor.

"Sanren Kayaku Boshi!" Usopp exclaimed as several pallets exploded around Luffy.

For a moment, Luffy didn't moved from the smoke. Luffy, however, suddenly jumped out of the cloud of smoke and seemed to hover in the air for a moment.

"Gum Gum Stamp Gatling!" he yelled as he kicked his foot so fast that it seemed to multiple and he hammered his crew relentlessly. The floor around them crumbled and broke from the sheer power of the attack.

Zizu watched the battle from a safe distance. "Strawhat is stronger than I thought. What destructive power." His right eye glowed for a moment. "And he is still holding back."

"Cyclone Tempo!" Nami screamed as she attempted to knock Luffy out of the air.

Without missing a beat, Luffy easily caught the projectile and violently whipped his arm around. He then snapped his arm back and threw the Clima-Tact right back at Nami with tremendous force.

It was only her experience as a nimble thief that kept Nami from being beheaded by her own attack. Nonetheless, the force behind the attack was so great that when Nami looked behind her she saw that her Clima-Tact had become embedded into the stone floor.

"Don't attack Nami-san, shit captain!" Sanji exclaimed as he began to spin around, heating his left leg.

"Sanji, you could seriously injured him with that technique!" Chopper warned in horror. He knew Sanji's Diable Jambe could easily burn down to the bone and Luffy was the most vulnerable to heat compare to other elements. In fact, heated attacks were one of the few things that could scar Luffy's rubber skin.

Sanji gritted his teeth in response. He knew he could morality wound Luffy, but he didn't have much choice. His normal attacks would just bounce off Luffy.

"Premiere Hachis!" Sanji yelled as he ran forward and jumped after Luffy, who was still hovering in the air. The boy captain's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden burst of speed from the chief. He barely had time to move as he was bombarded with kicks to his midsection.

Luffy fell to the floor, and he quickly rolled away to keep Sanji from stomping him with his inflamed leg. He, however, didn't expect Sanji to suddenly spin around and hit him on his left shoulder.

Luffy screamed in pain as he clutched the burnt shoulder. "HOT, HOT, HOT!" he yelled as he attempted to cool himself by waving his hand back on forward over the wound.

"108 Caliber Phoenix!" Zoro yelled as three air-compressed projectiles came spiraling at Luffy. He got himself together just in time to evade the hit.

Ivy used this time to charged in and attempted to disable one of his arms. Luffy saw the attack coming and intercepted Ivy by brutally grabbing her wrist. With a slight twist, he snapped it with little effort.

"Sorry, Thomas," Luffy whispered once the deed was done.

Ivy screamed in pain as Luffy ran towards the two monsters of his crew and leaped back into the air. He then begun to spun around rapidly as he stretched and wrapped himself in his own arms and legs like a giant rubber ball.

"Gum Gum Fireworks!" he yelled as he rapidly unwrapped his body and a bombardment of punches and kicks came flying at Zoro and Sanji. They both threw themselves out of the way, but were still hit several times.

Zoro growled in pain and frustration as he rubbed his now swollen arm. He was lucky that last attack didn't break his arm.

When Luffy landed back down, he got a nasty surprise. Covering the floor were several spiky jacks. He cried in pain as he hopped around, trying to find a safe spot to land as the spikes dug into the soles of his feet.

"What the hell!?" Luffy yelled as he remembered the last time something like this happened. He looked up towards Usopp who gave him a somber smile.

"It's nothing personally, Luffy," Usopp said as he took aim. "Fire Bird Star!" A bird of fire came right at Luffy and hit dead on. He was thrown back and landed butt first into the spikes. Luffy gave an even louder scream of pain as he attempted to pick himself up.

"Damn you!" Luffy yelled as he plucked several spikes from his butt.

"How shameful, Strawhat," Zizu said casually from his place away from the fight. "Are you really going to allow that weakling to get the best of you?"

"Usopp isn't a weakling!" Chopper yelled angrily. He wanted to run over and punched the bastard, but he knew he would most likely just hit another illusion. He could try to close his eyes and used his sense of smell to track him, but that was nearly impossible now since the entire room was covered with the scent of smoke, blood, and explosives.

Luffy painful picked himself off the floor. "This won't do. I'm sorry, master."

"Don't apologize to him, Luffy-san," Brook said more fiercely than anyone had ever heard the skeleton swordsman. "He isn't your master."

Luffy looked confused for a moment before he vaguely noticed that something was missing from the back of his neck. He looked around for a second and saw that his hat had falling off and rolled some distance away from him. Usopp's Fire Bird must have burnt the string that kept it in place.

"My hat!" Luffy exclaimed in shock. It didn't seem to be damage from the last attack, which he was thankful for. He hastily pulled himself out of the spiky battlefield and ran towards his prize treasure.

"What are you doing, get back to the fight," Zizu ordered, stopping Luffy in his tracks.

Luffy turned towards his master and gave him a pleading look. "But..."

"I said leave it," Zizu ordered more firmly. "Forget about that musty, old thing. It means nothing to you now."

Luffy stood perfectly still as if he didn't fully comprehending the order.

"How can you be so cruel!?" Nami asked in disgust. There wasn't a person on the crew who didn't know how important that hat was to Luffy. "That hat represents both his dream and a promise to a person special to him!"

Zizu gave a side line glanced towards Nami. "Oh, I already know all of that. I can see his memories, after all. But he no longer has any need for such a pointless dream. Everything your captain was is long gone and he belongs to me, mind and body."

"That's a lie!" Nami screamed angrily. "Luffy is the strongest person I know and he would never allow his dream to be destroy by the likes of you!"

"His dream, you mean about him becoming the next Pirate King? What a complete waste of time," Zizu sneered in disgust. "I have given him a far greater purpose in life. The purpose of destroying the World Government."

"His dream isn't worthless!" Zoro exclaimed as he glared at Zizu.

"It is? What's the point in becoming the Pirate King?" Zizu challenged. "It's nothing more than a worthless title given by the World Government to scare everyday people. Do you truly believe he would become an actually king if he found the One Piece or that all the pirates of the world would suddenly bow before him? Wake up, it's all a silly child's dream."

Sanji clamped down on his cigarette so hard that he nearly bit it in half. "If I recall, the last Pirate King changed the world."

"He changed the world by getting himself killed like any common criminal caught by the government," Zizu retorted. "In the grand scheme of things, all Gold Roger did was encouraged bloodthirsty scofflaws to take to the sea and murder countless innocent people."

The entire time they were talking, Luffy didn't move from his place. His eyes were blank and he didn't show any emotion to what Zizu was saying. But he still kept his eyes on his hat.

Zizu began to chuckle. "Besides, what kind of 'king' will Strawhat be when he doesn't even have his own mind." He then turned towards Luffy. "Strawhat, get down on your knees and kneel before me."

Everyone glared at Zizu in surprise.

Ivy clenched her fists in hatred. "You just have to show your level of control, you manipulative bastard."

"You bastard, take back that order!" Sanji yelled.

Zizu ignored them. "You heard me, get down on your knees and bow before your master."

Luffy tore his eyes from his hat and stared at Zizu for a moment. Without any hesitation, he got on one knee and bowed his head before Zizu.

The Strawhats watched in disgust and shock as Luffy was forced to humble himself in front of them. The added fact that Luffy didn't even fight the order also horrified them.

"Behold, your 'Pirate King'!" Zizu continued to mock.

"You monster!" Usopp screamed as he raised his Kabuto at Zizu. How dare this man humiliate Luffy like this.

Zizu didn't even flinch and didn't even bother to glance at Usopp. "Think about that for a moment, boy. I can have your captain break you in two with just a thought."

Usopp growled in frustration when he realized that he was right.

Zoro shook in anger and wanted to yell for Luffy to stand back up. To see his captain like this was even worst than fighting him.

"You are nothing but a hypocrite," the voice of Robin said coldly as she slowly lifted herself off the dusty floor. She was holding her hand close to her ribs and there was some blood on her mouth. "How many lives have you ended and ruin to obtain your army of slaves? You are no better than the World Government."

Zizu's eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth. "Don't compare me to the scum of the government. What I do is for the greater good of the entire world."

"And the greater good means enslaving countless people, forcing them to sacrifice their lives, and make them murder their friends and family," Robin said in an icy tone. "I was wrong. Not even the World Government is that cruel."

"I would expect someone who survived the genocide of their homeland to be more understanding," Zizu said, causing Robin to flinch. "Besides, their lives are not needlessly wasted. Their sacrifice is needed to bring about a new era free of the World Government. You of all people Nico Robin should be grateful to us."

Sanji glared daggers at Zizu. "Is this the true form of the Revolutionary? Preaching freedom while you steal people's lives."

"What would you understand, boy?" Zizu questioned with heat. "The Revolution is freedom and we take our first major step soon by taking the heads of the government itself, the Gorosei."

A long silence filled the room as everyone took in Zizu's words.

"Kill the Gorosei, are you crazy!?" Ivy exclaimed once the shock had worn off. "Even if the marine's resources are busy elsewhere, it would be pure suicide for anyone to go near the Gorosei. Are you telling me you're willing to sacrifice your own men on this futile assault?"

Luffy's eyes widened when he heard those words. His master wouldn't sacrifice Sahara, Timber, and Thomas, would he? He couldn't. But could that be the reason why they were so upset? Did they know that their master had all but sent them die?

"Even if they fail, their bravery will go down in history," Zizu stated. "They will be heroes to the Revolutionaries and inspire an entire generation. What greater honor can anyone ask for."

"You irredeemable bastard," Zoro growled. He was shaking so hard that the steel from his swords could be heard clinging together. "You're nothing but a coward that hides behind the strength of others and dare to call yourself noble. Why don't you go and die for your own ideas instead of hiding behind others?"

Zizu took a quick glanced at Zoro. "You're just too naive to understand anything outside your own little world. Even your captain seemed to have come to understand the righteousness of our cause."

"Explain yourself!" Brook demanded.

"That's right!" Usopp also exclaimed in anger. "Luffy isn't willingly working for you. You've enslaved him just as you've done everyone else here."

Zizu's smirked at him. "You think so? When I entered your captain's mind he didn't even put up a fight. He willingly accepted me and called me his master within seconds. That is why he shows no resistance even now and has willingly bowed before me."

"That isn't true!" Franky yelled.

"It is very true," Zizu said almost cruelly. "I have possessed many people and they all struggled and fought at the beginning. Even after I bring them under my control, a part of them still resist and try to fight me before they come to accept their new lives. Especially when it came to fighting their love ones. Your captain, on the other hand, didn't even put up a struggle. So you see, he has willingly betrayed you."

Everyone looked at Zizu with a mixed of disgust, anger, and hatred. None of the Strawhats believed a word he said. Luffy was undoubtedly fighting very hard to break his control, but he didn't have the mental strength needed to overcome Zizu. It was one of Luffy's greatest weaknesses, but that was why he had them.

"Your words are meaningless," Robin said with cold fire in her eyes. "Even though you have access to Luffy's mind, you know nothing about us if you think you can make us believe our captain betrayed us."

"Believe what you want. It still won't change the fact that you all are about to die by your own captain's hands. Then, I will make you see the truth of our cause, Nico Robin," Zizu said as the turned his attention back towards Luffy. "Finish them."

Luffy, however, didn't move from his spot.

Zizu became annoyed by his slave's lack of movement. "You heard me."

Everyone stared at Luffy, hoping that maybe he was somehow able to fight the spell.

"Master...is it true?" Luffy asked quietly as he lifted his head to face Zizu. "The attack on Mariejois, is it really a suicide mission?"

"What different does it make?" Zizu asked impatiently.

"Timber, Sahara, Thomas have serve you fatefully for years," Luffy said softly. Ivy's face became ashen when she heard her father's name, but Luffy paid her no heed. "They don't deserve to die like this. They don't deserved to be made to die."

Zizu narrowed his eyes. "That's no concern of yours."

"BUT IT ISN'T RIGHT!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs as he stood straight up, stunning everyone. Even Zizu was caught by surprise by the sudden outburst.

"Where did this burst of mental strength come from?" Zizu wondered. "He wasn't able to resist at all before now."

Luffy looked close to tears and for first time his eyes seemed to become clear again. He looked very much like his old self.

"They...they became like a family. Why do they have to sacrifice? A good leader shouldn't throw away their friends' lives like this," Luffy said. He was actually begun to shake with anger. "You…you can't betray them like this!"

Luffy was suddenly overwhelmed with memories of his crew during happier times. He could remember when they sang and danced on the Going Merry and had wild parties after someone had joined the crew. He remembered Brook waking everyone up in the morning by playing music and Nami throwing one of her shoes at him for waking her up too early. He remembered Zoro training while Chopper watched in admiration and awe. He could also see Franky working on the ship or fooling around with Brook as they both play their instruments.

He didn't have a strong bond with his current comrades, but he felt a similar bond had formed between them. In his mind's eye he could remember what Thomas had said just the other night.

"But you have nothing to protect now, old man," Timber stated.

"No, I do," Timber said with a slight smile. "I have all of you."

"Thomas..." Sahara whispered in shock.

"You all are my family," Thomas finished.

Zizu looked concern as he felt Luffy really beginning to struggle for the first time since he had possessed him. He had no idea where this sudden bout of resistance had risen from and Strawhat picked a bothersome time to decide to grow a brain. It was, however, a minor inconvenience. No one could break his spell.

Nami, on the other hand, saw this as their chance to free their captain. "Luffy, this guy cares nothing for the people who serves under him. That jerk is just using all of you and thinks nothing of your lives. You have to fight him!"

She knew that the bond of family were the one thing that could reach him. Even when they fought rival pirate crews, like Captain Kuro, Luffy always despised when people abused their own crewmates. They were the people that Luffy hated the most.

Luffy's forehead became covered with sweat and he grabbed his head in pain.

"Stop sobbing for those fools and get back to your job," Zizu said harshly as he right eye glowed, causing Luffy to nearly double over in agony.

"Don't listen to him!" Zoro yelled at his captain. "Fight him! You're stronger than this!"

"Come on, Luffy. Come back to us so we can continue on our adventure!" Chopper cheered in encouragement.

"Ad...adventure...?" Luffy whispered. What adventure was he on? Wasn't he Zizu's servant?

"The adventure to become the Pirate King," Usopp answered, seemingly reading his thoughts. "To explore the world and fulfill the promise you made on your hat."

"Hat..." Luffy whispered hoarsely as he looked back towards his strawhat. He wanted so badly to reach for it. In the back of his mind, he could remember the face of the red-haired man again.

Nami nodded and smiled. "You're our captain, not this guy's slave."

"And once you're free, we can save the others too," Chopper continued. "They won't have to die."

"Save them..." Luffy muttered as another jolt of pain shot through his head, sending him to his knees. He closed his eyes and covered his ears in a vain attempt to stop both the flood of memories and the voice that was screaming in his head. "But...I'm supposed to serve Zizu. He's my...master."

"Dammit Luffy, fight it!" Sanji yelled.

"Come on, bro, snap out of it!" Franky encouraged.

Ivy stood quietly by as she watched the events unfold before her. She couldn't believe they were actually getting through to him. Could their bond possibly be strong enough to break Zizu's spell?

"This is all so sweet, but this is getting too sappy," Zizu said as his right eye glowed brighter. "Don't forget who you're dealing with."

Luffy winced in pain as Zizu's power completely overtook him, drowning out the voices of his crew.

"Forget about those idiots," Zizu said harshly, his right eye glowed even brighter. "Dreams, family, they mean nothing. They brought about their own demise by being too weak to survive within the New World. They can only properly serve me now by dying for our cause. You, however, Strawhat have the potential for greatness that far surpasses my other servants. Now stand up, and take your place as my new vassal!"

Luffy withered in pain on the floor and his own eyes seemed to flash red.

"Luffy-san!" Brook exclaimed in worry.

Ivy stared at Zizu when he finished his rant. "The New World? Is that the true reason why you want to kill off my father and the others? So you can get a new batch of slaves to do your bidding. I should have known you would be so heartless."

Zizu said nothing, but the smug look on his face told her everything.

Luffy sat on the floor for a few seconds longer before he finally stopped struggling. He slowly calmed down and began to open his eye. His eyes were once again glazed over and they were filled with fog.

He glanced one last time at his strawhat, which lay abandoned on the floor. It looked like he was going to walk up and grab it, but he then coldly turned his back on it as he glared mendaciously at his crew. There was none of the warmth they had come to know in their captain's face and it broke their hearts to see Luffy leave behind his treasure. It was almost like Luffy was truly gone from them.

"You are correct. I'm sorry for questioning you, master," Luffy said. His voice was filled with a cold conviction. "Thomas, Sahara, Timber…..they're the weak ones. They're the ones who've failed to properly serve our master. They deserve to die."

Chopper stared horrified at Luffy. "You can't mean those things."

"I mean everything I said," Luffy said as he clinched his fist. "I am Master Zizu's ultimate vassal and I shall fulfill his dream in destroying the World Government!"

"Luffy," Usopp whispered in tears. They were so close to having him back.

"Luffy-san..." Brook also muttered sadly. He was shaking with anger and grief.

Zoro gave a low growl. Those words were not his captain. What the hell did Zizu do to him?

Ivy shook her head. "Zizu has altered his personality. Whatever hope you had in him breaking the spell is gone now."

Robin shook her head in sorrow. "For a moment I though we have gotten through to him."

Zizu smiled in satisfaction. "It is time we end this foolishness and put an end to the past. It's time for you to get serious." His right eye glowed again.

Luffy got into a horse stance and put one hand over his knee and the knuckles of his other hand into the stone floor. Everyone in the crew recognized that stance.

"Shit, this bad," Zoro cussed.

"Is he really going to use that technique?" Sanji asked in worry.

Nami had finally managed to dig her Clima-Tact out of the floor, but she wasn't sure how much help she would be. All her attacks had proven to be useless against Luffy. She hadn't felt this helpless in a long time.

"For the future of my master's plans, you all will die here!" Luffy proclaimed as he pumped blood into his legs and then allowed it to flow back up through his body. Steam began to rise from his body and his skin turned a glassy red. "Gear Second!"


	15. Full Gear

_A Few minutes earlier_

A loud rumble got Thomas' attention as he looked up from his reading. He was currently studying maps and charts on Mariejois to better assist them on their mission. Although the invasion had a close to zero percent chance of succeeding, it was still their duty to try to succeed. This was their master's will, after all.

"Looks like the Strawhats have arrive," Sahara said neutrally as she took notes from her own memory on Mariejois and its defenders. "They're early."

"It's no concern of ours," Thomas said as he tried to get back to work, although he was having problem concentrating. "Strawhat should be able to handle his own crew."

At that moment, Timber ran into the room. "Hey, what are you guys still doing here? The fighting has already started."

"As you may recall, we were told not to interfere," Sahara said in mild annoyance. "We have an invasion to plan, remember?"

"That can wait," Timber said, barely containing his excitement. "Let's go watch the battle."

"Timber, can you at least pretend to be responsible for once," Thomas stated as he looked towards the Zoan user.

Timber gave him a large grin. "But your daughter is also here. I can smell her."

Thomas winced when he heard about his daughter. Despite everything within him telling him that she was the enemy and against their master's plan, he still cared for her. At that moment, he felt a sense of worry for her and a need to see her.

Sahara saw the conflict on her friend's face. "Thomas, we must get ready for our mission."

Thomas shook his head as he stood up. "There is still plenty of time to plan for that. I...I want to see my daughter. This…this could be my last time."

The pain in Thomas' caused Sahara to wince. She said nothing for a moment before she finally sighed in defeat. "Then, I'll go with you. Someone needs to keep you two out of trouble."

"Then, let's hurry up before Strawhat kills everyone," Timber said as he led his teammates down several hallways until they arrived on the second floor above the battle.

They watched with both interest and amusement as Luffy battled his own crew. Thomas for his part kept a neutral face until he saw Ivy get her wrist snapped by Luffy before he went on to attack his other crewmates. Although, he managed to hear Luffy's quiet apologize to him.

"Gum Gum Fireworks!" Luffy exclaimed as he mercilessly plummets his crew.

"Strawhat has some real skills," Sahara stated, slightly impress. "I can see why master have high hopes for him."

Timber glanced at Sahara for a moment. "Oh, this would be the first time you've seen him fight."

Sahara nodded. "He needs to be careful, though. That swordsman and sniper are not to be taken lightly."

As if to prove her point, Luffy landed on several spiky jacks, causing him to scream in pain.

"Ouch, that's dirty," Timber said with a chuckle.

Thomas shook his head. "The fool allowed his guard to drop."

"How shameful, Strawhat. Are you really going to allow that weakling to get the best of you?" Zizu questioned.

Luffy quickly apologize for allowing the sniper to make a fool out of him.

"Don't apologize to him, Luffy-san," the skeleton swordsman said fiercely. "He isn't your master."

"Amazing, even after he tried to kill them, they're still trying to reach him," Timber mused before he titled his head in thought. "I don't remember much, but my crew never did that for me. They didn't even think twice to try to kill me. Then again, we were real pirates unlike these people who simply fly a pirate's flag."

"Not all pirates have to be murderous dogs to be called pirates," Sahara corrected. "In my time I have met pirates who were more noble and compassionate than the marines I worked with."

"You must have worked with some evil marines," Timber half-joked.

"Believe me, I know one of the Admirals makes some pirates look like saints," Sahara said.

They watched for a few minutes longer as their master's bragged about his master plan and the back and forward that followed.

"I wish we can get back to the fighting," Timber said as he tapped his fingers.

"What are all of you doing here?" Caisco questioned as he walked towards the group.

"We were watching a fight before it unexpectedly stalled," Timber complained.

"You know what I meant," Caisco said harshly.

Sahara leaned against the rails. "Relax, we won't interfere. We just wanted to see how this battle ends. Even you must be curious to be here."

Caisco chose to say nothing.

"Master...is it true?" Luffy asked so quietly that they could barely hear him. "The attack on Mariejois, is it a suicide mission?"

Everyone paused when they heard the confusion and hurt in Luffy's voice. Why was he so upset? It wasn't like he was ordered to go.

Their master's eyes narrowed in annoyance and anger. "That's no concern of yours."

"BUT THIS ISN'T RIGHT!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs. "They...they became like a family. Why do they have to sacrifice? A good leader shouldn't throw away their friends' lives like this." He then glared at their master. "You…you can't betray them like this!"

"Strawhat...is he crying for us?" Sahara asked in disbelief.

"Impossible, he barely knows us," Timber said, but his tone wasn't all that convicting.

"Such softness from a pirate is unheard of," Caisco said, although is voice wasn't as cold as usual. "No...I have seen such tenderness before within the New World." In his mind he saw a vision of a giant of a man with a crescent shaped mustache. Despite his size and overwhelming power, Caisco could remember the man tenderly hugging one of the men he called his sons. "So, it isn't unique only to him."

Thomas' eyes went from the boy captain to his daughter who looked to be near tears as well. For a moment he felt a strong sense of guilt over take him again. This time it was guilt for not being there for his daughter and his willingness to go on a mission that would surly lead to his death. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to lose the last of his blood family. He also didn't want to lead an attack that would kill his new family either.

"And once you're free, we can save the others too," Chopper yelled along side his crew. "They won't have to die."

Thomas grasped at the reindeer's words and then glanced at each of the Strawhats. They all seemed to be smiling in agreement. They wanted to help them, why? Weren't they enemies? Didn't they try to kill them just the other day?

Timber shook his head in confusion. "What's wrong with these pirates? Why would they care to save their captain who has all but betrayed them along side us who try to murder all of them? I don't understand this group."

Like Luffy below, they all struggled within their own thoughts for several minutes longer before the moment was broken.

"This is all so sweet, but this is getting too sappy," Zizu said as his right eye glowed brighter. They all felt their minds being invaded and their memories once again being suppressed. Apparently, Zizu had felt their hesitation as well. "Don't forget who you're dealing with."

Thomas gritted his teeth as the memories of him slaughtering his own village with the sword he had taken up to protect everyone. He tried to hold on to the memory and the hatred he felt towards Zizu as he stood by and watched, just as he was doing now. But the control was too strong and he felt himself once again being pulled back into the fog of his own mind.

He looked down and saw that Strawhat had already succumb again and felt a brief stab of disappointment in his heart. It would seem they were destine to follow Zizu until death after all.

* * *

 

Luffy was still in his horse stance as he slowly lifted his head. His eyes bore into each of his crewmates as he prepared to attack. He couldn't let his feelings for his new comrades to distract him. He had his own job to do and he planned to do it to the best of his abilities. His crew's words, however, still echoed through his mind despite a cold force trying to suppress it.

Luffy quickly cleared his mind as he disappeared from view. All the Strawhats were immediate on guard. "Gum Gum Jet Pistol!"

The attack came so fast and with so much force that it knocked several of the Strawhats off their feet despite the fact that Luffy's fist didn't even make contact with any of them.

"Dammit, what's up with this giant jump in power?" Ivy asked as she attempted to see passed all the dust and debris. "He's nothing like he was before."

"This is Luffy's Gears," Nami explained as she used her Clima-Tact to block some of the flying debris. "When he uses it, he pumps blood faster throughout his body making him both faster and stronger."

Ivy's eyes widened in shock. She was beginning to understand what the crew meant the other night when they said their captain was holding back. With a broken wrist, she was all but useless in this battle. Although, a brutally honest part of her knew that even at full strength she stood no chance against the boy captain in this form. He truly was a monster.

"Shit," Sanji cussed when he saw a blur of red coming right for him.

"Gum Gum Jet Bullet!" Luffy screamed as his punch nearly took Sanji's head off if he hadn't dodged it at the last moment, but he got the air knocked out of him when Luffy suddenly kneed him on his side, breaking his lower ribs.

Luffy finished the combination by stretching both of his hands behind his back. "Gum Gum Jet Bazooka!" He slammed both of his palms into Sanji's chest and sent him flying into a nearby wall with a sickened crunch. Sanji slid down the wall until he hit the floor like a spineless jellyfish. There, he didn't move again.

"Sanji!" Nearly everyone yelled in horror.

"To think Luffy could do that to one of us," Usopp said in horror as he stared at Sanji's broken body.

"Dammit!" Chopper exclaimed as he took out one of his Rumble Balls and bit down it.

Luffy saw this and went to intercept him. "Gum Gum Jet Pistol!"

Chopper immediately went into his Guard Point and took the full force of the attack. Even in his defensive form, Chopper grunted in pain.

Franky came to the doctor's rescue by shooting several nails at Luffy, which made the rubberman pull away from Chopper.

Brook then ran in to help. "Gavotte Bond en Avant!" he yelled as he propelled himself forward, catching the edge of Luffy forearm.

Luffy responded by twisting himself around. "Gum Gum Jet Whip!" Before Franky and Brook knew what had happened, they were both tripped over. The forced of the whip nearly caused both of their legs to break in half.

Luffy, however, was so distracted by them that he had failed to noticed Chopper who had changed into his Arm Point.

"Hoofprint Blizzard Rose!" Chopper exclaimed as he punched Luffy multiple times across his back. Luffy grunted in pain and attempted to turn around for a counterattack, but Chopper was ready for him.

Chopper put both of his hooves together again. "Cloven Cross!" An 'X' shaped marked appeared on Luffy's chest as he was sent flying back and hit a wall on the far side of the room. The impact left several cracks and collapsed the second story hallway on top of his head.

"Nice, Chopper!" Usopp complimented.

"Bastard, your praise don't make me happy," Chopper said with a huge blush on his face.

"Not now, Chopper," Zoro warned as Luffy unburied himself from the rubble. Zoro could tell by looking at Luffy's body movements that he wasn't that badly injured. Without warning, Luffy seemingly disappeared again.

Zoro was on his guard when he felt a foot connect with his backside and sent him flying towards Chopper. The reindeer quickly went into his Heavy Point and caught the swordsman.

"Are you alright?" Chopper asked as Zoro groaned in pain.

"I've been better," Zoro grumbled. He hated that Luffy was able to attack his back.

Within moments, Luffy was right above them. "Gum Gum Jet Gatling!"

Chopper barely had time to go back into his Guard Point as a wave of punched descended on them. Without a second thought, he covered Zoro with his body, protecting him from the vicious onslaught. Even with his protective thick fur, Chopper cried in pain as each punch dug deeper into his body. It felt like he was being broken into pieces.

"Chopper!" Zoro screamed in horror as he attempted to push the young doctor off of him, but the force of Luffy's punches made it impossible for him to rolled Chopper off. Worst yet, the punches were getting stronger as Luffy got closer to the floor. At this rate, Chopper would be killed.

"Nueve Fleur!" Robin yelled as she wrapped her arms around her captain's body, effectively stopping the assault. "Twist!" she finished.

Luffy was twisted like a circus' balloon while he was still in mid-air. He had some control of his body, however, since he managed to land some feet away from Zoro and Chopper. He then spent several moments struggling to get out of Robin's grip.

Robin was not going to allow him escape that easily. She spouted two more arms around Luffy to restrain his movement even more. "Slam!" Luffy's head was then slammed right back onto the floor with a force that would had knocked his teeth out if he wasn't rubber.

"You're starting to piss me off!" Luffy yelled in exasperation.

While this was happening, Zoro gently rolled Chopper off of him, who had reverted back to his Brain Point. "Chopper, are you okay?" Despite his attempt to hide his emotions, his voice gave him away completely.

Chopper slowly opened his eyes and smiled. "Yeah, he didn't break my guard." Although, Zoro knew he was badly bruise and would be extremely sore in a couple of hours. It was obvious that Chopper was out of this fight.

Now knowing that Chopper was generally safe, Zoro turned his attention back towards his captain. He was still trying to pick himself off the floor despite Robin's best efforts to keep him there.

"Gum Gum Balloon!" Luffy exclaimed as he sucked in so much air into his lungs that he blew up into a huge balloon. He did this so suddenly that Robin couldn't maintained her hold on him and was forced to disengage her hands.

Zoro saw this as his chance since Luffy was wide opened and ran towards his captain. He knew he had to aim carefully so he wouldn't hit a major blood vessel and cause Luffy to bleed to death. Given the nature of Luffy's body, using the blunt side of his sword simply wasn't an option. It was as Luffy said earlier, he couldn't half-ass it.

Luffy saw him coming from the corner of his eye and immediately let out all the air from his body, making him fly up.

Zoro, however, had no intention on letting Luffy get away that easily. "108 Caliber Phoenix!" The wave of energy flew from his swords and right into Luffy.

Luffy during this time flew so high up that he actually hit the roof of the building and bounced himself off the ceiling. He then twisted himself out of harms way of the energy wave like a graceful little monkey.

"Gum Gum Jet Stomp!" Luffy yelled as he stomped his right foot down with such speed that it was nearly invisible to the normal human eye. Zoro, however, was able to see enough of it to allow him to cut deeply into Luffy's lower leg.

Luffy hissed in pain as he fell back towards the floor. Zoro was already on Luffy the moment he landed.

"Yasha Garasu!" he exclaimed as spun like a rolling wheel towards Luffy. He then spun himself like a tornado and thrust his swords several times into Luffy's chest.

Luffy quick reflexes and speed saved him from the worst of the swords thrusts as he quickly shot one of his arms forward and wrapped it around Zoro's neck several times.

"Zoro!" Nami screamed in terror. As things stood now, Luffy could easily break Zoro's neck.

"You're not as good as usual, Zoro," Luffy noted in disappointment. He then slammed Zoro into the floor several times, causing blood to fly everywhere.

"Zoro-san!" Brook yelled in horror.

Despite starting to turn blue from the lack of oxygen and his blood flowing down his face, which was beginning to blind him, Luffy's words had hurt him much more deeply than his current physical discomfort.

He knew that his still injured body was severally slowing him down and it stung him to the core to hear the bafflement in Luffy's voice. Even though Luffy didn't show it in his face or in his actions, he could somehow feel that a part of Luffy was hoping that he would be able to stop him.

"That's it," Zizu encouraged from a distance. "Now, finish him."

"Stay out of this!" Nami yelled as she raised her Clima-Tact.

"Don't, Nami," Robin warned harshly as her eyes traveled to the balcony on the second floor.

Nami followed the older woman's line of sight and saw that the other commanders were watching the entire battle. She quickly realized that if she moved to attack Zizu, anyone of them would come and kill her. She now understood why Robin made no further attempt to attack Zizu after she had regained consciousness.

Her heart stopped for a moment as another realization hit her. Even if they managed to defeat Luffy, they couldn't take on all the commanders at once in their weakened state. No wonder Zizu showed no concern for any of them.

"As you wish, master," Luffy eagerly answered his master's command as he began to tighten his hold on Zoro. Luffy had a small sadistic smile on his face.

"Damn, we have to stop him!" Franky shouted as he pointed his gun at his captain.

Luffy responded by pulling Zoro in front of him, daring Franky to fire now. Franky growled in frustration and cussed silently at Luffy for using the swordsman as a human shield.

Brook also tried to look for any opening, but all his attacks would also endangered Zoro.

Sanji, who had finally regained consciousness, groaned when he saw the scene in front of him. "Dammit Luffy, don't do this. You won't ever forgive yourself for this once you've return to normal."

Whatever conflicted feelings Luffy did have didn't show on his face as he squeezed the life out of Zoro. Form was already beginning to come out of the swordsman's mouth.

"NO, HE'S GOING TO SUFFOCATE HIM!" Chopper yelled in horror.

"It isn't that merciful," Franky growled. "Strawhat is trying to slowly break his neck."

"Luffy, please stop!" Nami pleaded with her captain.

"Luffy!" Robin yelled. She wanted to use her power to help Zoro, but knew that Luffy would just snap the swordsman's neck faster if she interfered.

Luffy's smile grew larger. "You're all weak. If any of you were real pirates, you would have cut through him."

"The Luffy-san that I know would never do such a dishonorable to his crewmate," Brook said, digested by what Luffy had said.

"That 'Luffy-san' is dead," Luffy mocked as he tightened his hold on Zoro. Slowly, Zoro's movements began to cease.

During the commotion, Luffy and everyone else failed to notice that Usopp had sneaked behind their captain. Zizu, however, took noticed of the sniper's movement.

"Fool, behind you!" Zizu warned.

Luffy turned around just in time to see Usopp put a hand to his chest. "I'm sorry, Luffy."

With that, Luffy felt a sharp pain traveled through his chest and exploded into his already rapidly beating heart. It took Luffy a moment to realize that Usopp had just used an Impact Dial on him.

His hold on Zoro loosened until the swordsman slipped through his grip. Brook wasted no time running in and catching the now unconscious Zoro. He then carefully pulled the younger man away from Luffy who was still standing in place. He didn't fell nor move and his head was pointed right at the ceiling. Usopp could see blood flowing freely from Luffy's mouth and his eyes were completely white. For a horrible moment, Usopp thought he had killed Luffy.

"Luffy..." Usopp whispered hesitantly as he approached his still captain, ignoring the fact that he may have broken his own arm using that Impact Dial.

Suddenly, Luffy burst to life and kicked Usopp viciously in the stomach. The sniper gaggled in pain as blood spilled from his mouth, but he was also relieved that his friend was still alive.

"You jerk!" Luffy spat as blood ran down his chin. It felt like his heart had stopped for a moment. Thankfully, that Impact Dial was nothing after getting hit by that pigeon guy's Rokuougan three times.

Luffy glared murderously at Usopp before he threw his fist forward and nailed the sniper with a Jet Pistol right to his face. Usopp felt his nose break in three places as he slammed into the floor.

"Usopp!" Chopper yelled as he was checking on Zoro.

Luffy rose his foot up to stomp Usopp into the floor. At his current range, there was no way Usopp would survive the attack. "Gum Gum Jet Sto..."

Before he could finish, Sanji rushed in and kicked Luffy so hard in the chin that it sent him flying up into the ceiling. Without wasting another moment, Sanji spun around on his leg again until it burned a bright orange. He then jumped after Luffy who was just now regaining his bearings.

"Venaison Shoot!" Sanji yelled as he spun around horizontally and kicked Luffy repeatedly in the chest and stomach with his burning leg. Luffy screamed in pain as Sanji brought his foot up and delivered a powerful ax kick to Luffy neck, sending him crashing into the floor.

Luffy moaned in pain as he shivered on the floor. He was also too dazed to move as Sanji came back down and slammed his foot into Luffy's back burning through his vest.

Attempting to keep his mind off his burns, Luffy whipped his arm back and attempted to backhand Sanji, who was able to evade the sloppy attack.

This, however, gave Luffy enough time to move out the cook's range and get some distance. Sanji looked at Luffy as he shook in pain. He felt a stab of guilt for causing such damaged to his captain, but he had no choice.

Brook saw his chance to make the finishing blow. "Hanauta Sancho: Yahazu Giri!"

Luffy recovered just in time and used his own increase speed to actually catch Brook's arms before he could hit him.

Brook was completely stunned by these turn of events. "What!? But no one has ever caught me before while I was using that technique!"

Luffy grinned sadistically as he rammed his fist into Brook's upper chest. The attack would have undoubtedly ruptured his lungs and heart if he had any.

Luffy, however, was so busy dealing with Brook that he almost missed Sanji moving in to hit him again with a Diable Jambe. He responded by kicking the leg that Timber bit into the other day, causing the cook to grunt in pain as he felt his bones crack.

Brook, however, used this opportunity to pull his sword arm free and impale Luffy, catching the rubberman off-guard.

"My apologizes, Luffy-san," Brook said as he attempted to push his sword further into Luffy's body. With a hissed of pain, Luffy jumped back before Brook could cause any further damaged.

"Fresh Fire!" Franky exclaimed as he blew a stream of fire at Luffy. He saw it coming and gracefully moved himself out of the way.

Once he was a safe distance away he glared coldly at his entire crew. He was breathing hard and was bleeding in several places. The burns that Sanji gave him, however, were by far his worst injuries.

"Dammit," Luffy muttered as he surveyed the damage.

"How disappointing," Zizu said. "I expected far more from you, Strawhat. Maybe you are also among the weak ones."

Luffy narrowed his eyes and his eyes burnt with anger and shame. He could feel his master's disappointment and it wasn't a good feeling. He couldn't allow his own crew embarrassed him like this. He was Zizu ultimate vassal.

"It's time I finish this," Luffy growled. "I'll kill you all with my greatest attack!"

Luffy got into a horse stance and then jumped as high as he could into the air.

"What's Strawhat up to?" Franky asked worriedly. He didn't like the look in Luffy's eyes. They had the aura of death in them.

"Luffy is always at his most dangerous when he's push like this," Nami said in deep concern. She knew Luffy was planning something terrible.

Once Luffy was close to the ceiling he put both his thumbs into his mouth and bite hard. "Gear Third!" He blow into his thumbs and both his arms grew to the size of a giant.

"What the hell!?" Ivy shouted, speaking up for the first time since Luffy had entered Gear Second. "His arms grew!"

"He's using that combination again!" Sanji exclaimed in horror.

"Luffy stop, you'll rip your body apart!" Chopper screamed.

Zoro opened one of his eyes. "Luffy..."

"Is the spell so powerful that he is willing to push himself this far again?" Robin asked, remembering the state Luffy was in after fighting Moriah.

Zizu was also not pleased with this new development. He wanted to push Luffy to his limit, but he didn't expect him do this. "Strawhat, you idiot! Do you want to destroy my entire base!?"

Luffy, however, seemed even beyond his master's words. The only thought on his mind was completely his mission. He was ordered to kill his crew and he was going to do it no matter the personal price.

"Gum Gum Giant Jet Bazooka!" Luffy yelled as he brought both of his arms together and slammed them into the floor. The combination of speed and power was too much for the building and the entire center broke apart on impact.


	16. Awakening

Zizu's servants waited patiently outside for the battle to conclude between Strawhat and his crew. They had all received the mental message from Zizu that told them to keep away from the main compound. That didn't stop them, however, from staying close to the main building. Strawhat was an unknown fighter despite his reputation and they wanted to make sure that their master wasn't harm by the pirates.

It was almost twenty minutes after the fight had started when an earthquake shook the entire area.

"What the..." one of the people started to say as the main compound suddenly broke in half and collapsed under its own weight. The force of the earthquake was so powerful that it also knocked down several of the surrounding buildings.

At that same moment, they all felt a sharp pang of panic from their master. They had never felt fear or distress from their master before, which meant something went terribly wrong and Zizu could be in mortal danger. Without a second thought, they disregard their original order and rushed in to help. Their efforts, however, were futile since the fallen debris blocked everything off.

"What the hell just happened!?" one of the people exclaimed. "What caused that earthquake?"

"Is master Zizu okay?" another asked in horror.

"I can still feel his presence, so he's still alive," one of them assured.

"Dammit, those pirates much had caused this," another one growled.

"Don't just stand there, get a pick and start moving this stuff out of here!" one of the men ordered. "We have to get to our master."

All the people shouted in agreement and started to dig through the rubble.

* * *

Back at the heart of the chaos, Franky pushed away a large wall that had buried him alive. "That was too close for any comfort." He looked under him where Robin, Nami, and Brook laid. They all seemed unharmed. "Are you guys alright?"

Robin gave him a small smile. "Yes, thanks to you."

"Good thing you're made of steel," Nami said as she slowly stood up.

Brook shook his head as he looked around. "Where are the others?"

Robin crossed her arms and bloom some eyes across the ruin building. Some distance away, she saw Sanji climbing out from the broken roof, carrying Usopp in his arms. They both seemed relatively unharmed and somehow during the chaos, Sanji had managed to retrieved Luffy's hat.

In another part of the building, Chopper was supporting Zoro who was leaning heavily against him. Ivy was also near them as well and she kicked aside some rocks to clear a path.

Robin uncrossed her arms. "They are all still alive."

"Thank god for that," Nami sighed before another thought hit her. "But what about Luffy?"

Robin frowned before she shook her head. "I didn't find him. He was most likely buried when the roof collapse. His Devil Fruit powers, however, should protect him."

"Crazy fool," a voice caught all of their attention. The turned to the source of the voice and were disappointed to see that Zizu was not only alive, but completely unharmed. Sahara was standing next to him and was attempting to pull him to his feet. She had obviously ran in and saved him before he was buried alive. "What the hell was he thinking using that technique?"

"It would seem you don't know our captain too well," Brook said evenly to Zizu. "He can be reckless when he feels he has to win."

Zizu glared daggers at the swordsman. "Well, despite his reckless actions he failed to kill or seriously wound any of you. What sloppy work."

"You're starting to really piss me off, old man," Franky growled.

A little distance away Caisco was also knocking the last of the debris he was buried under. In his arms were Timber and Thomas who both looked no worst from wear.

"Well I say this, Strawhat knows how keep things interesting," Timber joked lightly.

Caisco looked around the area. "Odd, despite all the collateral damage no one was seriously harmed. I wonder if Strawhat have been self-consciously curving his attacks."

"So, you have noticed it too," Thomas said.

"What are you two talking about?" Timber asked.

"Despite the intensity of the fighting, no one in his crew has died," Caisco explained. "Granted, this pirate crew is stronger than most, but the weaker members should had still died if Strawhat had the full intention of killing them. I can only conclude that a part of Strawhat has been keeping himself from mortally wounding any of his crewmates."

"Agreed, the orange-haired woman, long nose, and the reindeer should had been his first targets, but he purposely went against his crewmates who could defend themselves and failed to finish them once he had disable them," Thomas explained further. "The swordsman, Roronoa Zoro, is the only real exception since master specially ordered Strawhat to kill him."

Timber raised an eyebrow. "He still has that level of control even after master all but alter his mind?"

"From what I've gathered, despite Strawhat's weak mental defense, he's still has a very strong will," Caisco stated. "So master hadn't yet gained full control of him, yet."

"Or, it could be the love for his crew that is holding him back," Thomas surmised.

Timber gave a wide grin. "Looks like we might get some action after all."

Thomas nodded. "It would seem so. Strawhat is too soft-hearted to kill his crew."

"Nonetheless, they will be far easier for us to finish off since Strawhat has greatly weaken them," Caisco stated.

Zizu fully stood up and watched as the Strawhats came together. He would had never dreamed that this pirate crew could be so bothersome. "I had enough of all you. Caisco, Thomas, Timber, finished them." He then turned towards Sahara. "Stay by me."

Sahara nodded, but said nothing.

Thomas walked up to the group and unsheathed his sword. Before he could get closer to the Strawhats, however, Ivy stepped between him and the crew.

"Move," Thomas ordered coldly.

"I refuse," Ivy growled as she held up her one good hand. Her knife glittered in the sun.

"What can you do when you are lame?" Thomas questioned. "Stand down before you hurt yourself further."

Ivy narrowed her eyes. "Are you only acting concern because you still want Zizu to enslave me?"

Thomas chose to say nothing.

"Get out of the way, Ivy," Zoro huffed as he raised his own swords and broke away from Chopper's grip. His voice was very hoarse and he barely spoke above a whisper. There was also blood coming out of his mouth. Luffy's last attack had obviously ruptured his vocal cords. "I can handle him."

Ivy gave a short snort. "I maybe only have one good hand, but you can barely stand. Not to mention that your body was messed up long before Strawhat nearly chocked you to death."

"She's right, Zoro. You've already pushed yourself passed your limits and any further stress could cause permanent damage," Chopper warned. "You don't have to fight him just because he's a swordsman."

Zoro's eyes narrowed. "This has nothing to do with my promise. There's no honor in beating a man like him."

"What are you saying, boy?" Thomas asked in a tight voice. "Don't underestimate me because of my age."

Zoro shook his head. "I have no issue with your age. But it's pointless to fight a swordsman who has lost their will and is nothing more than a glorified puppet."

"What?" Thomas questioned coldly. The insult stung since a part of him knew those words was true.

"Beating you would mean nothing because you're not yourself, but I will never allow anyone who call themselves a swordsman to harm my crew," Zoro said as he charged forward and attempted to attack Thomas. He, however, didn't get far before a spike of pain surged through his body, bring him to his knees.

"Zoro!" Chopper exclaimed as he knelt beside his fallen crewmate. "I told you not to push yourself."

"Dammit, my body won't listen to me," Zoro complained.

"You say there is no honor in fighting me, but I can also say that there isn't any honor in fighting a man with such a broken body," Thomas said as he looked down at his opponent. There was a look of pity in his eyes. "I don't know what you've done in the past that would put you in such a miserable state, but I can't show you any mercy, regardless of my honor."

At that very moment some of the rubble began to shift and Luffy came popping out of the debris with his arm raise. He let out a loud roar before he hunched over in exhaustion. It looked like he was barely keeping himself upright.

"Luffy!" most of the Strawhats yelled in relief.

"Amazing, he managed to keep conscious this time," Robin said.

"Nonetheless, I don't thing he can fight anymore," Brook noted.

Luffy continued to breath rapidly for several seconds. His eyes were unfocused and he coughed up some blood. His breathing was also very shallow and his body was covered in small cuts.

"Luffy..." Chopper whispered. He wanted to run over and care for his captain, but knew it would be dangerous given Luffy's current mental state.

"Well, look who came back from the dead," Zizu almost sneered, not please with seeing Luffy at the moment. "Strawhat, I will deal with you later. For now, you will stay right where you are."

"Master..." Luffy huffed before standing straight up. He nearly collapsed, but managed to retrain his balance. "This is my fight. Let me finish it."

"You had your chance and you blew it," Zizu stated in an icy tone. "I expected more from a rookie of your caliber, but you couldn't even kill your own crew. How a weakling like you got this far into the Grand Line amazes me."

"But..." Luffy attempted to defend himself.

"Be quiet, you worthless idiot," Zizu said harshly. "To think, you could have been a promising vessel that would had led my army into the New World. Such a pity."

Luffy back down and lowered his head in shame.

"Don't you dare talk to Luffy like that!" Zoro yelled, defending his captain. His efforts ended with him coughing up more blood.

"Luffy isn't weak, he just put together a powerful crew," Sanji said as he glared at Zizu. "The fact that he couldn't kill us so easily is a testament to that given how strong he is."

"How touching," Zizu mocked as he turned his attention back towards Luffy. "Just sit back and watch. If you behave, I may still find some use out of you."

Luffy bite his lips, but said nothing more.

"With that done, we can get to the slaughter," Timber said excitedly as he licked his lips.

"Why do you still want to serve him?" Chopper asked. There had to be a way to reason with them. "This guy wants to send you on a death mission."

Timber flinched at those words.

"It is our master's will and dream," Caisco answered. "It is our honor to die for his desire."

"There's no point in reasoning with them," Brook said as he pointed his sword at Timber. "Like Luffy-san, they are all under that man's spell and our words alone won't reach them."

"He's right," Ivy said bitterly as she continued to stare at her father. "Because the father I knew would never bow his head like a dog and serve a scum bag like Zizu."

Thomas' eyes narrowed, as he got ready to attack.

"But Luffy said you all have become a family," Chopper continued while looking at each of them. "Surely, you don't want a family member to die needlessly."

Even Caisco was at a lost for words.

"He's right," Usopp said as he forced his head up. Sanji was still supporting him. "Control or not, you can't agree with what he's doing to all of you. Your bond is stronger than his powers."

"What's all this nonsense?" Zizu asked. "Family, bond, as I said before, it means nothing to them. They live only to serve me. They could careless for one another." He then glanced at Luffy. "Look how fast Strawhat abandoned such childish ideas at the thought of becoming my right hand."

Robin glared at Zizu. "You mean after you forcibly alter his personality."

"If that was anywhere true, then why did Caisco go out of his way to save Timber and Thomas?" Nami challenged, seeing that their words were having an affect. "He could have easily left them to die when the building fell, but he chose to protect them. Just as our own friends protected us!"

Zizu began to chuckle. "I see, you think that their years together has formed some kind of bond that surpasses even my control. Is that what you meant earlier, Starwhat?"

Luffy said nothing for a moment. "Yes, master."

Zizu rubbed his chin. "An interesting theory even though no bond has ever broken my control. I think, however, a little experiment is in order." He then looked at each of his slaves. His right eye glowed as he reached into his servant's mind. "Thomas, I believe it was you who said that this was your family."

Thomas' eyes were blank, but he wasn't too please that his master had read such a private memory. He also felt a cold pit of dread form in his stomach. "Yes, it was me."

"Kill Timber," Zizu ordered casually as if he was asking for a glass of water.

Thomas' eye widened in shock. "What?"

"I said kill Timber," Zizu repeated as he turned towards the Zoan user who looked utterly betrayed. "And you stand right were you are."

"You're ordering him to be killed without even allowing him the chance to defend himself?" Franky asked in both horror and disgust. "What the heck is wrong you!?"

"If their bond of family is really as powerful as you believe, Timber won't have to defend himself," Zizu reason coldly. "Thomas should be able to stop himself by his will alone."

Thomas said nothing as his body shook from the internal conflict.

"Father, don't do this," Ivy pleaded. Although Timber has been nothing but an enemy to her, she couldn't stand to see him killed like this. Especially in such a pointless way just so Zizu could show off his level of control.

Luffy was equally horrified. "Master, that type of cruelty isn't necessary."

"Master, please," Sahara also pleaded from Zizu's side.

Zizu was unmoved by any of them. "Do it, Thomas."

"Master, this is waste of resource," Caisco said in his normally calm voice. Ivy, however, noticed it sounded tighter than usual. "Timber's strength is still needed for the invasion on Mariejois."

"It is of no big lost," Zizu said dismissive. "Timber's usefulness had diminished greatly over the years. I can easily find another to replace him."

Timber began to shake as he heard those words. "But…I've served you loyally for all my two years. I did everything you've asked of me."

"And I am thankful for your service," Zizu said almost mockingly.

Timber looked down at his feet. "I see. Strawhat was never meant to be just another slave. Master was grooming him to be my replacement."

Timber's broken voice moved almost all the Strawhats to tears. Even Zoro growled at Zizu's cruelity.

"Stop it, father!" Ivy exclaimed as she attempted to grab Thomas. With speed that she never knew her father possessed, he rushed towards Timber.

"I will make this quick!" Thomas yelled.

The Strawhats could only watched in dismay as Thomas' sword reached Timber, but it didn't hit. Instead, Luffy had jumped in-between the two and had taken the sword thrust right into his stomach.

Timber's eyes widened in surprise and shock. "What, Strawhat!?"

Thomas was just as shock by the turn of events. "Why?"

"I….I honestly don't know," Luffy answered slowly. "My body moved before my mind even knew what was happening. I...I just couldn't let you kill him like this. He...he's your family and...family should treasure each other."

Thomas was completely taken off-guard by the answer. "Starwhat..."

"You really are pathetic," Zizu said as he walked over towards the scene with Sahara not far behind him. "Willingly throwing your own life away like this. You are an absolute disgrace."

Despite his words, however, Zizu was truthfully unnerved. He thought he had buried Strawhat's desire to care for others. For him to have enough fight left to go against his order and undo his mind altering was troubling.

"Shut the hell up, you bastard!" Zoro yelled as he attempted to run over to his captain. How dare this man treat Luffy like a piece of trash. Chopper held him back, however. He was so weak that he couldn't break the doctor's grip.

Sanji also wanted to beat the bastard into the ground, but he couldn't leave Usopp alone while they were surrounded on all sides.

"Even when he's like this, his instinct to protect is still so strong," Robin whispered in awe.

"Your plan backfired!" Nami yelled in defiant. "Even after you have altered Luffy's personality, he is still able to resist you! You'd underestimated the bonds of family."

Zizu gave a loud sigh as he rubbed his forehead. He attempted to bury his concerns about Strawhat. He was still, after all, his slave and small sparks of rebelling meant nothing. "Do I really have to continue to prove that I am the master here?" His right eye glowed again for a moment before Zizu turned his attention back towards Luffy. His eyes widened in realization. "Interesting, I didn't notice this before. Strawhat, you have never actually killed anyone before, have you?"

Luffy didn't say anything since he already knew Zizu had the answer.

Nami also paused in thought. Now that she thought about it, she had never seen Luffy kill. He had beating people within an inch of their lives and sent them flying across the sea, but he had never gone out of his way to kill anyone, even when the bastards really deserved it.

Brook blinked at the statement. "Luffy-san has never taken a life?" From his experience, it was nearly impossible to be a pirate and not at least kill in self-defense. He had never taken personal pride or pleasure in killing anyone in the past, especially when they were well-intentional marines, but he knew it had to be done for the safety of his crew and his own wellbeing.

"I remember Luffy saying once that he didn't kill because he thought having one's dream crush was a fate worst than death," Robin stated in thought.

Zizu smirked at the boy captain. "So no matter who you murder today, this will be your first blood, right boy?"

Luffy could feel his heart beginning to beat faster, but his face remained impassive.

"Murdering someone on your crew would be far more fitting for such a special occasion, but I have another idea," Zizu said with sadistic pleasure. He knew how to break Strawhat's rebellious spirit. "Strawhat, crush Thomas' skull."

"I had enough of you!" Franky yelled as he pointed his gun at Zizu. Sahara was instantly on him and knocked his right arm up, making him shot harmlessly into the air.

"I won't let you harm him," Sahara said in a determine voice.

Robin crossed her arms, but was quickly interrupted by Caisco who slammed his ax into the ground and caused a shockwave strong enough to knock Robin off her feet.

"You won't interfere," Caisco said coldly as he glared at Robin. "Be grateful that I can't kill you, woman."

"But your friend is about to die!" Chopper yelled, hoping that some sanity would return to them. "You can't possibly want any of this to happen!"

"Luffy-san, please don't do this," Brook pleaded with his captain. "You can fight him. Your will is stronger than his."

"He's right, don't listen to that shit head!" Sanji yelled, gripping Usopp so hard that the sniper cried in pain.

"Luffy, please fight him!" Nami screamed along with the others.

All the Strawhats knew if Luffy did this deed, it would permanently damage his mind.

Zizu gave a cocky smile as Luffy pushed himself further into Thomas' sword, attempting to get closer to the older man. "I...I am ordered to..."

"Bullshit!" Zoro yelled, causing further strain on his vocal cords. "You're the one who's going to be the Pirate King! You don't take orders from the likes of him!"

Luffy flinched when he heard the word Pirate King. He looked up for a moment to see that Sanji was still holding his hat protectively in his hand. As soon as he did, a shot of pain ran through his mind and the voice of his master returned. He was told to kill Thomas and he would fulfill his master's demand.

With Thomas gone, he could replace him and earn his way back into his master's good graces. Who knew, maybe he would also be given the order to kill Timber and Sahara. His strength, after all, greatly surpassed those two.

Luffy began to unconsciously smile to himself as those murderous thought came into his head, unnerving the Strawhats.

"You fought him once Luffy!" Usopp attempted to scream in his weak voice, but he knew Luffy still heard him when her lost his smile. "You have to do it again now! Think about how this will destroy you!"

"Strawhat!" Ivy yelled as she tried to decide whether she should try to stop Luffy herself. The other Strawhats wouldn't be please with her actions, but she wasn't going to allow her father to be needlessly murdered. Not after she had spent so many years trying to get him back.

Luffy edged closer until he was looking at Thomas right in his eyes. Thomas didn't fight, already accepting his fate. His serene demeanor unnerved Luffy.

That was close enough for Ivy and she attempted to charge in, only to be tackled by Timber in his full lion form. She was pinned to the ground and cried in pain when Timber put pressure on her broken wrist.

"You bastard, get off of Ivy-san!" Sanji yelled, wanting to go over there and beat the Zoan user to within an inch of his life.

Ivy looked Timber dead in the eye. "Strawhat saved you. Are you really willing to let him do this?" For the first time, Ivy saw what looked like regret in Timber's face.

"It isn't my choice to make," Timber said in a shaky voice. "It….it hasn't been my choice for a long time."

"Since the day our master brought us together, we have been bounded to him in body and mind," Caisco said in a solemn voice. "Whatever values we once had or have develop means nothing. Until the day we die, we all belong to Zizu."

"Well said, Caisco," Zizu praised.

Luffy raised his hand for the finishing blow. "It is our master's command that you die."

Thomas nodded. "And I have accepted his decision. I am happy to die this way knowing that I didn't spill any more blood. I just ask...I just ask for you to take care of them in my steed."

Luffy paused as a memory tingled in the back of his mind. What was he remembering? A man? Yes, a man that had a windmill on his hat. He was standing by someone's grave. Who was it? He couldn't remember or maybe he didn't even know to begin with.

 _"Take care of her,"_ _the man said. "If you ever take away her smile, I'll kill you."_

Whose smile? Who was this woman? He was certain it was one of his crewmates.

Another memory came to him. This time he was standing on a roof of a building with his crew. They were staring at several other people who held one of his crewmates hostages. He remembered ordering one of them to burn...something.

 _"Tell us you want to live!"_ he recalled yelling _._

He then remembered his crewmate's answer. _"I WANT TO LIVE! LET ME SAIL THE SEAS WITH YOU!"_ The memories came quicker now.

_"Even thought the sky is blackened with explosions, we can still see the sky! We can still see the sea!" a familiar voice screamed. "This place isn't hell!"_

_"Shut up and let's go!" he remembered yelling at someone._

_"I want to find the sea of wonders, All Blue!" a man said excitedly with a cigarette in his mouth._

_"I have a friend that is waiting for me," a skeleton with an afro said. "He has already waited so long for my return."_

_"My goal is to be nothing short of the greatest swordsman in the world," a man with green hair growled at him. "If you ever do anything to prevent me from my goal, you will end your life on my sword."_

_"A fine goal," he remembered himself saying. "As one who will become the Pirate King, I expect nothing but the best."_

_"A ship that can sail to the end of the world, just like the Pirate King!" a blue-haired man said._

Pirate King, that word again. That word meant something to him, he knew. He pushed himself to remember what was so important about that title despite his master's belief that it was a silly and pointless dream.

_"I want you to return this hat back to me, in good condition," a kind voice whispered to him. "And only after you become a great pirate. That's our promise, Luffy."_

_"The Pirate King is his father!" he yelled in shock._

_"Yeah, but you can't tell anyone," a blond-haired boy said. "He doesn't like his father for whatever reason."_

Who was that boy? He knew him. Yes, he was certain of it. Was it Sa...Sab...Sabo? Yes, it was Sabo, his other older brother.

_"Sabo asked me to take care of you. So it's a promise, I'm never going to die," a young boy with black hair said with his arms crossed. They were both on a cliff that gave them a full view of the sea. "I'm not that bright, so I don't really know what caused Sabo's death. But it has to be something that opposes freedom. Sabo died without ever having tasted freedom..."_

_He remembered himself sobbing at that point._

_"But we're still alive after having made an oath with him. So listen, Luffy. We have to live a life of no regrets," the boy paused as he collected his thoughts. "One day, we're going to sail the seas and live our lives as we want! No one will be freer than us!"_

Luffy's heart stopped. Freedom? He went out to sea looking to become the freest person in the world. What was he now? What was any of them? Were they all nothing more than their master's slaves? If he killed Thomas now he would die as a slave, never remembering the freedom that he had lost. It would be the same fate as Sabo. It was the same fate that awaited Timber, Sahara, eventually Caisco, and so many others. Luffy suddenly felt disgusted at himself for delighting at the thought of killing them all earlier. He also felt terrible for thinking they all should die for being weak.

And what of his crew? He brought them out here to fulfill their own dreams. How could he leave them like this? How could he come so close to killing them so many times? They believed in him and he was letting them down. He had betrayed their trust.

"Why are you hesitating?" Thomas asked when Luffy didn't move in for the final strike. "Do it and be done with it!"

Zizu narrowed his eyes impatiently. He could feel the struggle in Strawhat's mind. "Stop delaying, do as I command." His right eye burned into Luffy's thoughts, making all his newly regained memories disappear back into the depths of his own mind.

Why couldn't he fight it? What was wrong with him? He didn't want to kill Thomas anymore nor watched his friends be murdered. But he was so weak and his master's voice weighed down on him, robbing him of the last of his freewill. It was getting harder to think and it felt like he was drowning. He didn't want to live like this. He didn't want to live as a slave!

 _"Zizu's power lies in his right eye. If I could destroy it, maybe it will free my father and the rest of his unwilling victims."_ He suddenly recalled Ivy's words back on the Thousand Sunny.

His eye? His master's powers lay in his right eye?

Luffy looked at Thomas one last time as he waited for death. Luffy finally noticed that he had been crying and he could still hear the pleas from his crew to snap out of it. His body shook as he made his decision. "Thomas, please forgive me."

With that, he gave one last push, but his aim wasn't at Thomas. Instead, he stretched his arm into Zizu's face and aimed for his right eye. Using the last of his will, he grabbed the eye out of its socket and pulled.


	17. Dissolving of a Nightmare

Everyone stood completely speechless as Luffy ripped out Zizu's right eye. Zizu was so stun by the sudden act that his brain didn't even register that something was wrong as he stared numbly at Luffy as he held his eye in his hand. After a couple seconds had passed, the pain finally hit Zizu and he screamed in pain as he clenched his now empty eye socket. Interestingly enough, no blood dipped from the wound.

Timber shook in shock as he watched the entire scene. "What...what..."

"Strawhat, what did you do?" Caisco asked mostly to himself. In all of his years no one had ever touched their master, especially another slave. What kind of will did Strawhat possessed to do such an act?

Sahara turned her eyes away from Zizu and looked at Luffy's hand. It took her a moment to realize that the eye wasn't organic. Instead it was gray and obviously made out of some kind of metal. She could see the wires hanging from the eye and the pupil still shone red.

Sahara blinked a couple times as she realized what she saw looking at. "That's...that's the Mind's Eye!"

This got everyone's attention.

"Mind's Eye?" Timber repeated, still shock at everything that had happened.

"I heard about years ago when I was still in the marines," Sahara continued. "It was a project created by a great Grand Line scientist. The exact details are not clear, but it was a device that was supposed to reformed pirates and other criminals. It was also made to keep certain hostile nations in line. From my understanding, the scientist wasn't a big fan of the death penalty and wars. The Mind's Eye affects on the mind, however, were so powerful that it utterly enslaved a person to the user's will instead of just changing their behavior."

"Are you serious!?" Franky yelled in complete horror. He shouldn't be surprise by any of the World Government's shady actions, but even he found Sahara's story hard to believe.

"The Mind's Eye was eventually considered too dangerous and all research notes into it were destroyed," Sahara explained further. " I have heard rumors, however, that they did manage to create one prototype before the project was cancel. It was smaller, inferior version of the final product, but they manage to create the prefect mind control device."

"That's an inferior copy!?" Usopp exclaimed in shock. He didn't even what to guess what the real version could do.

"Given what we know of the World Government, they most likely feared what would happened if such a device fell into their enemies' hands," Caisco surmised. "Look at what master managed to accomplish with just a prototype. An even more powerful version would have allowed someone to enslaved entire nations against the World Government."

Timber shook his head. "If that's all true, how did master even get his hands on one? I don't think anyone from the government would just leave something like that lying around."

"The Revolutionaries have connections everywhere," Caisco stated neutrally. "It's not too hard to believe that they managed to get their hands on a prototype."

Chopper looked at each of them in confusion. "Why are they still calling Zizu master? He no longer has that Mind's Eye."

"It isn't that simple," Robin said gravely. "Even though Luffy has taken the Mind's Eye, Zizu is still mentally connected to them. The only way to break the spell is by destroying the Mind's Eye itself."

"Damn you, Strawhat!" Zizu yelled, completely unaware of the ongoing conversation. "How dare you do this to me!"

Luffy said nothing, but continued to hold the Mind's Eye in his hand. His eyes were completely blank and his face was emotionless.

Zizu sneered at Luffy's lack of reaction. "Give me back my eye."

"Don't listen to him!" Sanji yelled, finally finding his voice. "Destroy that shitty thing and break his control!"

"Yes, Luffy-san! This will all end once you destroy that eye!" Brook also yelled.

Luffy still didn't move, but his hand did begin to shake.

"Come on, Luffy, you've came this far!" Nami encouraged.

Zizu snorted. "Even if the Mind's Eye isn't with me, I still control all of them."

Ivy attempted to push Timber off of her, but the lion man was too heavy. "Strawhat, please, destroy that cursed thing! Think of all the misery it's caused!"

"Master, is everything alright!" several voices could be heard as the other slaves began to break their way through the debris.

"Not good," Sanji hissed. "In our current state, we can't fight all those people."

Nami continued to yell at her captain. "Luffy, quickly destroy that thing!"

Luffy shook his head in confusion. "I...I want to destroy it. But...my body won't let me."

"If you can't give it to me, give it to Thomas," Zizu said in annoyance.

Thomas, who has been mutely watching everything, looked Luffy straight in the eye. "What good is all your will if can't even finished the job?"

"I'm not sure," Luffy answered, but he gave small smile. "But I had to try. I...I had to try for the sake of my crew. I could...never live with myself if I killed any of them...or you."

"I see," Thomas said softly as he viciously pulled his sword from Luffy's stomach, causing blood to spill everywhere.

"Luffy!" Chopper yelled in horror. He knew Luffy's rubber body would keep him from bleeding to death, but there would still be a lot of blood lost. Not to mention that Luffy was already weak from all the fighting.

"Luffy!" Usopp also screamed when he saw Luffy fell to his knees, clutching his wound with his free hand.

Zoro had enough of this and finally broke Chopper's grip and ran towards his captain.

Timber saw this and got off of Ivy. He attempted to intercept the swordsman, but Ivy kicked his feet off from under him and then pinned him down by holding one of her knives to his throat.

"Don't," Ivy hissed harshly.

Thomas turned around just in time to stop Zoro's blades from gutting him.

"I won't let you hurt him anymore," Zoro growled. His eyes were hazy and he was closed to fainting in exhausting. The burning desire to protect his captain, however, kept him going.

"I see you have a fierce loyalty to your captain and that is to be commended," Thomas said. "But this isn't your fight." With that, he kicked Zoro in the ribs, causing him to double over. Thomas then hit him again on the back of the neck with the hilt of his sword, sending him to his knees.

"Dammit, you stupid moss head," Sanji growled as he put Usopp down. He couldn't stand around and watched any longer.

"You stay away too, boy," Thomas warned as he turned back towards Luffy.

Just before he turned, Zoro caught his eyes. There was something different about them. They were clear for the first time. "Sanji, stay away!"

Sanji stopped in mid-step. "What are you saying, moss head? Don't be stupid like..."

"Shut up love cook and watch!" Zoro yelled fiercely as watched Thomas walked over to Luffy's hand and kicked the Mind's Eye out of it.

"Bout time you people started to listening to your common senses," Zizu said as he glanced towards Sanji.

The other slaves finally broke through the rubble and were heading for the group.

Zizu then turned his attention back towards Luffy. He glared hatefully at the boy captain "Don't think your actions will go unpunished, Strawhat. I was considering sending you to Mariejois for your stupid actions earlier, but I think that fate is far too good for you."

Luffy never looked at Zizu and kept his eyes completely on Thomas who was bending over him.

"Instead I will loosen my control over you just enough so you can fully appreciate every action I make you do from this moment forward. Not only will you watch your precious crew die, you will remember every detail of their final moments. Then, I will have you work the rest of your life as my personal slave and you will wait on me hand and foot. I will have you licking the soles of my shoes everyday and you will be aware of all of it without the bliss I have given you before," Zizu continued to rant. "A fitting fate for a 'king'."

"Bastard," Zoro hissed hatefully. He wasn't worried, however. Zizu was too arrogant to see that he had already lost.

Thomas picked up the Mind's Eye and stared at it for a moment. "You've done well to make it this far, Strawhat. But now, it's my turned." Without warning he threw the Mind's Eye into the air.

"What are you..." Zizu attempted to ask.

Before he could finish the question, Thomas brought his sword down and cut the Mind's Eye in two with a single swoop. Zizu could only watched in disbelief as his precious eye fell into pieces onto the cold ground.

All the other slaves, who had just reached the area, stared in shock as they looked at the ruin remains of their enslavement.

Luffy felt the fog that had surrounded his mind lifted and for the first time in days he could think clearly. It was like he was just waking up from a long, deep sleep and everything before was just a vague dream that was already floating way. He blinked in shock for a couple of seconds as his full memories came back to him.

"I...I'm free..." Luffy whispered in disbelief. It was actually a little unnerving not having his master's….no Zizu's voice in his ear.

"No Strawhat, we're free," Thomas corrected as he lifted his own head. His eyes were clear and no longer glazed over by the Mind's Eye spell.

Luffy gave a small smile as his body finally gave in to exhausting and he began to fall forward. Despite his own pain, Zoro was right there to catch Luffy and cradled his captain in his arms. Luffy felt so light and fragile as he went limp in Zoro's arms.

Timber, Sahara, and Caisco all grasped in shuddered in pain as their own spell lifted. Ivy slowly removed her knife from Timber's neck as the Zoan user shook his head.

Chopper looked at everyone expectedly. "Is it really over?"

Robin gave a bright smile. "It would appear that the nightmare has finally ended."

"What...what have I been doing?" Timber asked as the last couple of years ran through his mind. His memories were still very fuzzy, but he could recall doing terrible things to his crew. A part of him didn't want to remember the details.

Sahara shook her head as she attempted to clear her mind. "We...we were all under influence of the Mind's Eye."

Caisco said nothing for a moment as he walked over to his former 'master'. "Zizu, how dare you use me like a puppet." He didn't remember everything about his past actions, but he knew enough to make him want to break the smaller man in half. "You made a big mistake by screwing with me."

For the first time in years, Zizu had a look of pure fear on his face.

The other still able Strawhats also began to walk towards the man who dared had enslaved their captain and harm their crew.

"Stay away, Strawhats," Timber growled as he stalked towards Zizu. The look of utter bloodlust on his face made him look like a real lion. "He's mine."

"I called first on him," Caisco said simply.

Sahara also stared murderously at Zizu as she began to walk towards him. She rise her claw hand Zizu. "This bastard made me murdered my own men in cold blood. I owe him for each life he made me take."

Sanji casually lit a cigarette as he continued his stroll. He may have appeared outwardly cool, but anyone that knew him could see the intense anger in his body movement. "This guy enslaved our captain and had him hurt Nami-swan and Robin-chwan. There's no way we're not kicking his ass."

"Kicking his ass is far too good for him," Franky said almost sadistically as he cracked his knuckles. "I think I'll burn him alive first."

Thomas didn't make a move towards Zizu. He also had a burning need for vengeance, but thought the others deserved it more than him. Despite everything he had lost and done, he still had his daughter. Many here no longer had anyone or anything to return to.

The feeling was the same for Ivy as she watched with more than a little satisfaction as Zizu finally got what he deserved.

Zoro wanted to join in the bloodshed, but Luffy needed him more at the moment. He hoped his crew gave that bastard an extra cut or slash for him.

The other freed slaves also turned on their former master. They all had a look of murder in their eyes.

Zizu backed away slowly from the angry mob. "You ungrateful, bastards! I gave your meaningless lives purpose! Without me, you would be sailing the seas as just another group of worthless pirates and lap dogs of the World Government!"

Sahara pointed her claw hand at Zizu. "You took away our lives! I think it's more than fair to return the favor!"

Zizu jumped away in fear. His expression, however, quickly twisted into rage. He then grabbed something from his robe. "Damn all of you!" he yelled as he threw a smoke bomb down and disappeared from sight.

"The hell!?" Timber exclaimed.

"So, he still had some tricks up his sleeve," Caisco said coldly. "I thought he would be too arrogant to have an escape plan."

"This island isn't that big," Sahara said as she looked towards the other slaves. "Find that bastard and let us take our revenge!"

Everyone gave a loud cheer before they all ran into the nearby forest, craving bloodlust. Sahara ran after them with Timber about to follow behind her before he noticed Caisco hadn't move from his spot.

"Aren't you coming?" Timber asked the older man.

"My body isn't made for running," Caisco said, his voice barely hiding his disappointment. "Just make sure you cut him to pieces."

Timber gave a vicious smile. "You got it," he said before he ran into the woods.

"Should we follow too?" Usopp asked. He wasn't normally a violent person, but he didn't want Zizu to get away with what he had done.

"Looks like we'll have to get in line to go after that jerk," Franky said in annoyance.

"Shitty coward. He should take his ass whipping like a man," Sanji growled as bit down on his cigarette.

"If I knew he could do that, I would have held him down," Robin said darkly as she thought about slowly breaking every bone in Zizu's body.

Even Brook was highly disappointed that he didn't have the chance to avenge his captain.

Nami looked towards Luffy, who was still in Zoro's arms. He was currently laying in Zoro's lap as Chopper cared for their captain. Obviously, Chopper had forgone the need for revenge to instead focus on their injured crewmate. It was just in Chopper's nature to want to heal people instead of causing harm.

"Let's worry about our captain right now. I doubt Zizu will leave this island anyway in one piece," Nami said, catching everyone's attention.

They all looked at each other and knew their navigator was right. Their captain needed them more than their need for revenge. With their anger evaporating, they all walked towards to their remaining crewmates.

Chopper quickly looked over his captain injuries and shook his head at all the damage. There were a lot of serious wounds, but nothing appeared to be mortal. All Luffy's external wounds were manageable even with his basic supplies.

"Will he be alright?" Thomas asked as Ivy walked up to them.

"He's hurt badly, but he mostly has internal damage from using both his Gears at once again. I won't know the extent, however, until we get him back to the ship," Chopper said as he disinfected and bandaged the sword wound Thomas had given him. He also made sure to put cream on the burns Sanji inflicted. Even unconscious, Luffy shuddered when Chopper touched his burns.

Nami saw this and responded by gently taking her captain's hand into her own and rubbing it.

"Strawhats, I owe you all my thanks," Ivy said as she bowed her head before the crew. "Without you, I could have never saved my father. I am forever in your debt."

"We actually did little," Zoro corrected. His face never strayed away from Luffy's. "Our captain and your father in the end freed themselves. We only pushed them along."

Franky walked over to where the remains of the Mind's Eye lay. "To think something that looks so simple caused all of this. Whoever made this is a brilliance scientist."

Usopp shook his head. "That device is pure evil. Even with it in pieces, I still get an uneasy feeling from it. And to think, a more powerful version of it could have been created."

"Well, I'm going to at least make sure this one causes no more trouble," Franky said as he took a deep breath and blew fire at the Mind Eye's remains. They shone a bright red before turning orange. Within a few minutes, only melted metal remained of the Mind's Eye, assuring that its secrets were lost forever.

Brook nodded in approval. "Hopefully, we'll never have to deal with something like this again." He then looked at Luffy's prone body.

Thomas suddenly turned around and began to walk away from the group.

"Father, where're you going?" Ivy asked.

"I have a lot to think about," Thomas said bitterly. "Even with Zizu's power broken, the damaged he has caused is done. Nothing can bring our village back, or your mother."

"But..." Ivy started.

"Please, leave my in peace," Thomas said harshly as he walked away from the group.

Ivy could say nothing as she lowered her head.

"Do you think Luffy-san will be alright with everything that has happened?" Brook asked after watching Thomas leave. "How much guilt will he feel once he wakes up?"

"But it wasn't his fault," Usopp argued. "He was under that guy's control. He couldn't help what happened."

"It doesn't matter," Sanji said with a note of anger and sadness as he sat on a piece of rubble. "Luffy will undoubtedly blame himself for not being strong enough to fight Zizu and allowing himself to harm us. You know how he is."

Usopp lowered his head. "I know, but..."

"We'll just have to help him through it," Nami said, stopping anyone from saying anything further. "We have to tell him that we don't blame him for anything and we still respect him as our captain. And that what he is, our captain, not Zizu's slave."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They would get through this just like everything else they have encountered.

"I've done all that I can here," Chopper said as he finished wrapping Luffy up. "He should be safe to move now."

Zoro nodded before he lifted Luffy carefully into his arms. As he looked down at Luffy's face he almost wished Kuma was here to take away his captain's pain again. What made Luffy's injuries so bitter, however, was the fact that most of his wounds were caused by them.

Sanji wanted to tell Zoro that he was in no condition to carry Luffy, but chose to say nothing in the end. At this moment, Zoro was likely to cut off anyone's arms if they dared take their captain out of his care. He really could be an overprotective mother goose to Luffy at times.

Without any words, the crew led Zoro back to the ship. Ivy followed silence behind them, lost in her own thoughts.

* * *

Zizu stopped to catch his breath as he leaned against a nearby tree. Damn Strawhat and Thomas for destroying his eye. Did they have any idea how much trouble he went through to acquire that thing? Dragon would not please with the lost of the Mind's Eye. It was one of the greatest weapons they had against the World Government. He would have to personally apologize to his boss once he got out of this.

He growled in frustration as he took out a baby Transponder Snail and quickly made a call. "This is Zizu reporting in. Please answer."

There was some static before the snail came to life. "Zizu, I wasn't expecting to hear from you this soon."

"I ran into some unforeseen problems," Zizu said, calming his voice. "The Mind's Eye was destroyed."

There was a long paused. "That is a pity."

"I need backup right away," Zizu stated. "My former slaves are on a rampage."

"About that," the voice on the other side started. "It has been decided by the higher ups just today that you are to be disassociated with the Revolutionary Army."

Zizu's eye widened in shock. "What!?"

He knew he wasn't the most popular to some of the higher officers, but he was generally respected since he got the job done and was willing to take risks that others were too cowardly to even try. It was his boldness and undying loyalty to the Revolutionary Army that got him entrusted with the Mind's Eye to begin with.

"Dragon particularly wasn't too please when he learned of your plan to attack Mariejois," the voice continued. "They think you went a step too far this time."

"I...I have done everything for the Revolutionaries!" Zizu yelled as the betrayal full sank in. "I have devoted my entire life to this cause! Everything I have done has been towards destroying the World Government! You can't just abandon me like this!"

"And your services have been greatly appreciated, but now that's all over," the voice said all too calmly. "From this moment on, you're on your own."

"But..." Zizu started.

"Please don't call this number again," the voice finished before the snail fall back to sleep.

"You...you traitorous bastards," Zizu growled as he hurled the snail to the forest's floor.

"Looks like everyone has forsaken you, 'master'," a voice mocked from behind him.

Zizu turned around to see Sahara standing behind him. "You..."

"As I said before, I owe you for each life you made me take," Sahara growled in hatred.

Zizu glared at her for a moment before he gave a triumphed smile. "Go ahead and kill me, but it changes nothing. You're now a wanted criminal by the government you once served all so loyally and you can never return to the marines. With your bounty, every high ranking marine and bounty hunter will want your head." He began to chuckle. "I have heard that there is a special place in Impel Down for marines who have betrayed the government."

Sahara growled as she rushed Zizu and sunk her claws deep into his shoulder. She smiled in satisfaction at the pain it caused him. "At least I will keep you for doing it to anyone else and I don't plan on killing you quickly either!"

Zizu smiled. He had a strangely serene look on his face. "Really, too bad you don't even have that choice."

Before Sahara could ask what he meant, Zizu bit down on something in his month and within seconds, he began to form at the mouth. She backed away as Zizu's body began to seize and his eyes rolled back into his head.

It only took Sahara a moment to realize what had happened as she saw pieces of a cyanide pill roll out of Zizu's mouth. The bastard had chosen to kill himself.

"You asshole!" Sahara screamed as she repeatedly kicked and punched Zizu's body. Even in the end, she was denied even of revenge.

Once she was too tired to kick anymore, she fell back to the ground and began to silently sob. There was indeed nothing for her to return.

* * *

Some distance away a cloaked figured with the elephant headset sat on a cliff with a Transponder Snail.

"I see, so the Mind's Eye is no more," a deep voice said from the other end of the snail.

"I'm afraid so, Dragon," the figure said. "It's a real shame too given how many connections we went through to obtain it."

"It is probably for the best," Dragon said dismissively. "What's the point of opening people's eyes to the truth if we go around enslaving others."

The figure nodded. "True, but I find it kind of odd."

"What?" Dragon questioned.

"You had no problems with Zizu's tactics in the past and you knew he was on the edge. You were also aware days ago that Zizu was going to attack Mariejois without your blessing, but you saw little issue with it and never bothered to try to stop him," the figure stated.

"What is your point?" Dragon asked steadily.

"Well, it seems kind of funny that you only decided to cut your connections with Zizu after you had learned that his latest slave was the rookie pirate, Monkey D. Luffy," the figure mused. "Do you have some kind of relations with him?"

"I fail to see the importance of such assumptions," Dragon said harshly from the other side. "Your duty is finish on that island. Return to Baltigo at once." The Transponder Snail then shut off.

"Testy, but I supposed I did cross the professional line. Whatever, Dragon always has his reasons for doing things," the figure said as he put his Transponder Snail away and began to make his way back towards the boat he had docked on the other side of the island.

It would seem they owed the Strawhats another debt. Zizu has been a disgrace to the Revolutionary for years and he was happy that Dragon had finally opened his eyes to that jackass. It was still ashamed that they had to sacrifice the Mind's Eye to do it, but as Dragon said, it was probably for the best.


	18. Healing

The Strawhats sat silently outside the infirmary as Chopper worked on their captain. It wasn't so much that they were worried about the wounds they had inflicted on Luffy since, as bad as the beating was, it was nothing compare to other battle wounds Luffy received in the past. They were more concern about his condition after using both his Gears at once again. Chopper voiced his worries about possible damage to his muscles and even his heart.

Zoro knew first hand how much damage Luffy's fighting style has been lately. Just a taste of it sent him to his knees and quivering in pain. He remembered all too well how Chopper was concern about muscle, nerve, and heart damaged after he had woken up from his three-day coma at Thriller Bark. Remembering how much like crap he felt like after waking up, he hoped Luffy wasn't going through that.

"Do you think Luffy's okay?" Usopp suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Nami gave a deep frown. "Chopper is looking after him, so he's in good hands. But Luffy really pushed himself when he fought us."

Usopp shook her head. "That isn't what I meant. I mean, I'm still worry about how much Luffy damages himself in his fights as of late, but I was talking about mentally. He was forced to fight us and he could do little to stop it. We also don't know of the long-term effects of the Mind's Eye."

"But he didn't mortally injure any of us," Brook said as he drank his milk.

"He hurt us enough," Zoro said as he took note of his wounded crewmates. Once Chopper was done with Luffy, he would have to professional wrap their bandages, especially those who had fractured or broken bones. He actually wondered how Usopp, was still conscious given the brutal beating Luffy gave him. The love cook also wasn't looking that well since he was as pale as a ghost.

Sanji looked towards Ivy who hadn't said a word since they left the village. "Ivy-san, are you alright?"

Ivy didn't say anything for a moment. "I guess...I guess I just feel empty. I spent over five years of my life tracking Zizu and trying to free my father. With Zizu defeated and my father free, I don't know what to do now."

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you have any plans for once you've succeeded?"

"I guess in my mind I thought everything would just go back to normal," Ivy laughed humorlessly. "That my father would just be the man I once knew and he would make things better. But I now I see that things can never be the same. That man who stood before me in the village wasn't the father I grew up with."

"Experiences like this will change a person," Robin said. "Your father was forced to murder everything he loved along with countless others. Something like that will never go away."

Ivy let out a loud sigh. "I know that, but I guess I just denied it all this time. But it still doesn't changed the fact that I don't know where to go from here."

"You need to talk to your father," Sanji said as he inhaled some smoke. "Regardless on how he may act, he's still your father and he needs you more than ever now."

"I think the real question is, what will happen to the people on this island?" Franky asked somberly. "Almost all of those people's lives have been torn from them and they are now fugitives. There're few places that they can go."

Nami sighed as she put her head on her knees. Luffy was lucky in many ways. He still had them, but she knew that would do very little to eased her captain's guilt. They would, however, get him through this. It was the least that any of them owed him.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Chopper walked out of the infirmary, getting everyone's attention. They waited patiently for Chopper to give his diagnostic.

"Luffy should be just fine. He will need a couple days of rest to recovery from most of his injuries," Chopper stated in a professional manner. "The sword wound was the most serious injury, but it's healing just fine and doesn't seem to be infected. His burns were also not as bad as they looked and should heal normally as well."

There was a long paused as they waited for Chopper to say more.

"How about his internal injuries?" Usopp asked for everyone.

Chopper lowered his head for a moment. "Thankfully, he did no permanent damage to his heart, but he did put serious strain on his muscles and nerves to the point that there were some tearing."

This got everyone worried. As a rubberman, it took a great deal to stretch him to his limits.

"Nonetheless, he should recover from everything quickly given how fast Luffy usually heals," Chopper went on. "But he will need to be more careful in the future."

There was an unsaid concern left in the air. At the rate that Luffy was going, he could easily pushed himself to the point where he would die from exhausting. It was also more than a little unnerving that the Mind's Eye was powerful enough to make Luffy go this far in damaging his own body. Luffy had told them that he had created his Gears to protect them, yet he showed no hesitation using them in a desperate bid to murder them.

"Can we see him?" Nami asked.

"He's asleep, so you can't talk to him," Chopper stated.

Zoro slowly stood up and began to make his way towards the infirmary. He really didn't care if Luffy was awake or not. He just needed to see his captain to assure himself that this nightmare was finally over.

Everyone followed the swordsman's lead and quietly walked into the infirmary. There, they saw Luffy covered from the neck down in bandages and a thin blanket hid his waist from view. His breathing was shallow and it was obvious he had a fever by the thin sheen of sweat on his face and the flushness of his cheeks. Despite all of that, however, Luffy had a peaceful expression on his face.

They all silently surrounded their captain and sat on the floor near his bed. Chopper used this time to go around and properly treat his other injured crewmates.

Zoro was by far the worst off with a bruise neck and damaged vocal cords. Thankfully, none of it was permanent. He was lucky that he didn't get his windpipe crushed.

Chopper was more concern, however, that Zoro had pulled several muscles and torn ligaments fighting Luffy. Chopper briefly wondered how Zoro was even able to walk with such injures, especially since he had showed little more than mild discomfort. Zoro was immediately put into bed to and was ordered to at least two days of bed rest. Must to his dismay.

Usopp was a close second for the worst injured with a broken nose and head trauma that rivaled the time he got hit by a four-ton bat. How Usopp was still able to function despite such an injury were beyond even Chopper's skills to explain. Usopp also had a badly bruised stomach and Chopper had to give him some medicine for it. He was lucky Luffy's kick didn't rupture it.

Sanji wasn't too far behind either of them with several broken ribs that nearly punctured his lungs along with a crack vertebra. Chopper was worried that Sanji could have paralyzed himself if he pushed himself harder.

Chopper also checked Ivy and her broken wrist was properly set and bandaged.

In comparison to those five, everyone else had minor injuries, but they were all going to be sore like no one's business in the morning.

By the time everyone was bandaged and checked, the sun was starting to fall. Sanji wanted to get started on dinner, but Chopper adamantly refused to let Sanji out of bed until his vertebrae had at least a day to heal. So, Robin and Nami were the ones who cooked everyone a light dinner, which they all chose to eat in the infirmary. It was partly because most of the crew was too sore to move and they didn't want to leave their injured crewmates alone.

It was night when everything began to settle down and the crew decided to call it a day. Luffy was nice enough to make it a clean break.

"Who will take watch?" Zoro asked.

"I can do it since I have the most minor injures," Nami offered. In fact, Luffy never really touched her.

Sanji frowned. "I can't let you do that, Nami-swan."

"We have little choice," Nami said. "You're in no condition to do your post and Franky and Brook aren't in top condition either. I don't think this island is dangerous anymore, but we shouldn't take any chances."

Before they could argue further, soft footsteps reached their ears. Every able person was at the door and rushed out to see who the intruder was. They were a little surprise to see Timber standing on the deck.

He raised his hands in surrender. "I won't hurt anyone. I just came here on Sahara's request."

The Strawhats eyed him warily as they lowered their weapons. Even though Timber was under the control of Zizu liked everyone else, he was still a pirate. Since they didn't trust Timber with their injured; Robin, Brook, Franky, Nami, and Ivy were the ones chosen to talk with him.

"What is it that you want to tell us?" Ivy asked in a tight voice.

"Well, most of us decided that since you helped us, you deserved to be updated on what has happened in the last couple of hours," Timber stated calmly.

"Go on," Robin urged.

"First of all, Zizu is dead," Timber said bluntly.

The Strawhats and Ivy felt a surged of satisfaction to hear that Zizu had met his end. At least he couldn't harm anyone else.

"Who did the deed?" Nami asked darkly.

Timber snorted. "He did it himself. The bastard had a suicide pill and he killed himself before we could get to him."

Robin nodded. "He was a Revolutionary, so he wouldn't had allowed himself to be capture alive and forced to reveal secrets."

Franky shook his head. "That bastard still took the easy way out."

"Now that's Zizu is gone, what do you plan to do now?" Brook asked the questioned that was on everyone's mind.

"We're not too sure," Timber answered honestly. "Most of us were wanted criminals from the start, so we didn't lose much. However, they are several villagers and marines here who have nowhere left to go. Especially those who now have bounties on their heads."

"Couldn't they tell the World Government what had happened to them?" Brook asked furthered. "Since they know the power of the Mind's Eye, they should understand."

Robin shook her head. "No, if they allowed any of those people back into society, they would have to explain what had happened. Knowing the government, it's easier to just condemn all those people as criminals and wipe their hands of the entire situation."

Brook's mouth fell opened in shock. "But these people are innocent! It makes no sense to punished them when it was the government's own invention that caused all of this."

"You don't know what scum bags the World Government really are," Franky said bitterly, remembering what they had done to his mentor and what they attempted to do to Iceberg. "The government would never admit they made a mind control device. They would rather cover their own asses than to pardon victims of their own misdeeds."

Timber nodded in agreement. "So you see, those people are curse for life as enemies of the government. Nothing can change that."

"There must be somewhere they can go," Nami said desperately.

"Wherever they go, they can't stay on the Grand Line," Timber said. "Too many strong marines and bounty hunters will be after them, especially those with bounties over 100 million."

"There are some isolated island around the Grand Land, but I don't know how hospitable they will be," Robin said in deep thought.

Timber got up to leave. "Well, that's the news for the time being and you don't have to worry. Everyone is keeping an eye out for danger and no harm will fall on any of you while you recover."

Robin nodded. "You have our thanks."

"Let's just call it even," Timber said as he began to jumped off the ship.

"Timber, wait!" Ivy exclaimed as she stood up. "Do...do you know where my father went?"

Timber gave a short shrugged. "Haven't seen him since I left the compound."

Ivy lowered her head. "I see."

Timber was silent for a moment. "He'll turn up soon. He just needs some time to clear his head. After everything that has happen, he will have a hard time facing you."

"I understand," Ivy said with a small nod.

With that, Timber took his leave.

"That Zizu guy sure left a big mess behind," Franky said as he crossed his arms. Even in death, that bastard was still taunting them.

Nami sighed. "There isn't much we can do to help them. They will have to find their own path. Right now, we need to take care of our captain when he wakes up."

Robin nodded. "Let's head back inside. It has been a long day for everyone."

* * *

Days went by and the crew was slowly returning to normal.

Sanji was finally allowed back into the kitchen and was cooking snacks for the ladies. He was also making sure to fix a big meal for Luffy when he finally regained consciousness. Knowing that rubber head, he would demand nothing but meat, but he also needed a balanced diet to get well.

He closed his eyes as he worked so he could listen better to Brook playing outside.

For the last couple of days, Brook had tried lighting the mood on the ship by playing his most beloved happy songs and he also hoped the music would speed up Luffy's recovery.

Sanji wasn't sure how the music was helping Luffy, but he has been personally enjoying it. It brought a sensed of normalcy back to the ship. Although he would never admit it to that shitty captain, a musician really did bring new life to the crew.

Sanji glanced over his shoulder when he heard Chopper walked into the gallery, looking rather exhausted. He has been locked up in the infirmary for the last three and a half days caring for both Luffy and Zoro. Although that moss head tried to play off his injuries as nothing.

The thing that mostly disturbed him about that shitty swordsman, however, was that he hadn't attempted to stage an escape since Chopper put him on bed rest. It was as common as the sun rising for Zoro to sneak out and train no matter how badly he was hurt. This was why someone always had to stay with Zoro when he was injured. Now, he hadn't moved an inch out of bed.

Any normal person could easily assumed that Zoro didn't want to damaged his body even more, but he knew that moss head wasn't that smart. The reason why Zoro had willingly stayed bedridden was so he would be there when Luffy finally woke up. He supposed after everything Luffy have been through he would need a friendly face there to greet him. Even if that friendly face belonged to a hideous walking ball of moss.

"Here you go," Sanji said as he offered Chopper a glass of juice.

Chopper smiled gratefully towards the cook as he took the glass. "Thanks, Sanji."

"So, how are the shitty swordsman and our rubber idiot captain?" Sanji asked.

"They're doing better," Chopper said before he frowned. "Zoro's still in bad shape and he made his injures from Thriller Bark worst. Luffy seems to be in a coma-like state since he hadn't moved since we brought him back. Normally, he would be at least snoring by now."

"Do you think it is cause by his physical injures or damage done by the Mind's Eye?" Sanji asked, trying to hide his worry.

"Hard to say since I don't know how the Mind's Eye worked," Chopper said in frustration. "Ivy said it was formed of hypnotism, but I'm not completely sure anymore. The human brain is very complex and is one of the many mysteries of science that even doctors don't fully understand. Which is why it was careless and foolish for anyone to make a device that can manipulate someone's mind."

Sanji paused in his cooking. "Do you think it did permanent damaged to him?"

Chopper bit his lips for a moment. "I honestly won't know until he wakes up."

At that very second, a loud screamed caught their attention.

* * *

In the infirmary, Zoro was wide-awake as he lifted a small weight in his hand. It wasn't his normal training regimen, but it was the only thing Chopper would allow and it took him hours to convince the small doctor that he wasn't going to overstrain himself. Some times Chopper could be too protective for his own good.

His mind, however, wasn't focused on his training for once. Off the side of his eyes, he kept a close watch on Luffy's prone figure. Some of the bandages were removed and the burns weren't as red as they were couple days ago. Luffy's fever had also broken on the second day and he was breathing easier. Nonetheless, Luffy had shown no signs of waking up.

Chopper theorized that Luffy's mind was still recovering from the aftereffects of the Mind's Eye. Since Luffy had actively fought against the mind control, had his mind and personality forcibly altered by Zizu, and he had such a weak mental defense on top of all of that, the Mind's Eye could have done some damaged to his brain. Chopper was deeply concern that some of Zizu's alterations could be permeant or worst, Luffy could be in a vegetable state for the rest of his life.

Zoro knew a lot about bodily damage, but he understood little of mental impairment. Nonetheless, he completely understood Chopper's concerns. Who knew what that cursed device had done to Luffy's mentality. What if Luffy's personality was irreversibly changed because of what had happened? At that moment, he almost wished he could bring Zizu back from the dead just so he could kill him again in a slower fashion.

From his dark musing, he saw Luffy began to shift in his bed. Zoro put down the weight and looked at his captain expectedly. Luffy wasn't the type to wake up slowly. He usually jumped out of bed, yelling about sleeping well or being hungry like nothing had happened to him. This time, however, was different. Luffy didn't immediately wake up and his eyes tightened as if he was in pain. His breathing also became rougher.

Zoro immediately became worried for the boy and quickly got himself out of bed, ignoring the pain that shot through his own body. As he was walking towards Luffy he saw sweat beginning to form on his forehead. Zoro briefly wondered if Luffy's fever was returning. Just as he reached his captain's bed, Luffy let out a piercing scream that felt loud enough to rupture his eardrums.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Luffy screamed as he tangled himself in his covers. "I don't want to hurt them! You can't make me!"

The outburst got the entire crew running into the infirmary within seconds, nearly knocking down the door. They all gathered around Luffy to see what was wrong.

"Moss head, what happened!?" Sanji yelled as he went to hold down his captain. Even asleep, Luffy was incredibly strong and nearly hit Sanji several times.

"I don't know!" Zoro yelled, more in distress than anger. "He just started screaming."

"Run away! I can't stop myself!" Luffy continued to cry in his sleep.

Usopp shook his head. "What's he talking about?"

"Everyone, please forgive me..." Luffy mourned as he began to calm down. Tears were running down his eyes and his body trembled. "I...I'm not strong enough to fight him. Please….run."

At that moment, all the Strawhats knew what was happening. Luffy was being forced to relive his past actions. Those words he was screaming were most likely what he was yelling at himself when he was being forced to fight them.

"Get out of my head!" Luffy suddenly screamed again as he tried to reached for his head, but Sanji quickly stopped him and forced his arms back down. "Please, don't make me do this! Don't make me kill my crew!"

Nami walked over to the bed and attempted to ease some of Luffy's pain. "It's alright, Luffy. We're all here. Zizu is gone and can't hurt you anymore."

She attempted to grab her captain's hand, but Luffy knocked it aside as he continued to struggle in bed. Luffy didn't seemed to hear her as he attempted to lunged himself out of bed several times, pushing Sanji to his limits. Nami was also nearly hit by one of Luffy's flinging arms.

Robin went over to the younger woman and gently pulled her a way before Luffy accidently hurt her. "He can't hear us, Nami-chan."

"Hold him down!" Chopper ordered as he prepared a needle.

Sanji pushed Luffy down harder and he was quickly joined by Franky. Chopper hastily took one of Luffy's arms and carefully struck the needle into a vein. It took a few minutes, but Luffy began to slowly relax and his struggles ceased. Soon, he had returned to a deep, dreamless sleep.

Usopp gave a loud sigh. "That was scary."

Brook shook his head. "What happened?"

"Most likely a repressed memory," Chopper answered calmly, but it was easy to see that he was also unnerved.

"An aftereffect of the Mind's Eye," Sanji surmised.

Chopper shook his head. "I honestly don't know, but it's highly possible."

Nami frowned with worry as she stroked Luffy's brow. "Will he be okay now?"

"The sedative I gave him should last a couple of hours," Chopper said. "After that, we have to wait and see if he has another sleeping fit."

No one moved for a moment as they all stared down at their captain. Their hearts went out to the boy.

"Should one of us stay with him in case this happens again?" Brook asked.

"I can handle him," Zoro said softly.

Chopper looked like he was going to protest until Sanji put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. "We better go and let him rest," he advised while looking at Zoro.

The other man knew that the cook was placing their captain's safety in his hands.

The crew seemed to understood Sanji's intention and they all slowly began to file out of the room while Chopper helped Zoro back into bed. After he made sure both of his patients were stable, he left again to finish his snack.

Zoro stared at Luffy the entire time before his eyes narrowed in worry. "Dammit Luffy, you better get well."

With that, he picked up his weight and once again started his halfhearted training. Just like before, his eyes never left his captain.


	19. Thank You

Sahara leaned heavily on her knees as she stared at her reflection in the lake. It has been nearly four days since she regained her freedom, but she felt anything but free. If anything, she felt even more of a prisoner than she did when she was under Zizu's control. At least under Zizu she had some kind of carefree blissed about her enslavement and the destruction of her original life. Now, there was only emptiness there to greet her.

Her world was gone, destroyed by her own hand. Now that she was no longer under the influence of the Mind's Eye she could remember every detail of that faithful night. How she slaughtered people who she had trained with her entire life and the death pleas of those younger marines who looked up to her. The looks of horror and betrayal in their eyes would hunt her forever.

The worst part of it all was that she actually enjoyed it. Not the actual slaughter, but the praised Zizu gave her afterwards. His voice was calm and smooth as he congratulated her on a job well done. She recalled how proud she felt when Zizu chose to keep her and make her into one of his commanders. How she had helped him enslaved others and kill dozens of people on his command.

By that time, she had long forgotten how to fight back and just willingly accepted everything. The memories of her old life were buried so deeply within her own mind that she couldn't bring them back no matter how much she wanted to remember. Now, a part of her wished she could forget again and be free of this pain. What was the point of even living?

"Sahara, I didn't expect for you to be way out here," someone said from behind her.

She turned around to see Thomas looking at her. She was so lost in her grief that she had failed to sense him.

"Thomas, what are you doing here?" Sahara asked.

"I suppose the same thing that you're doing, searching for purpose," Thomas said.

Sahara turned away from him. "Did you hear the news?"

"I did. I went back to the compound about two days ago," Thomas said. "It still changes little. I still can't will the courage to face my daughter. Not after all I have done to her."

"You're lucky that you still have a love one," Sahara said bitterly as she looked at her claw hand. It still had Zizu's blood on it, but all she could see were the blood of her fellow marines.

"I know that," Thomas said as he took a seat next to her. "I know that it could have been worst, but I still murdered all my childhood friends and my wife. Ivy was lucky. Although I had an idea where my wife had hidden her, I didn't pursue it. Maybe it was the last of my free will that kept me from killing her."

Sahara gave a deep sigh. "I wished I had that kind of will to spare at least one of my comrades." She then turned towards the older man. "What will you do now?"

"Once I finally face Ivy, I think we will return to our old homeland," Thomas answered.

"I thought your home was destroyed," Sahara stated.

"It was," Thomas said as he stared into the lake. "Although the people are long gone, we maybe able to rebuild it. With the help from our new family."

The statement took Sahara back. "What?"

"I haven't asked the others yet, but I think all of you can come with us," Thomas said as he continued looked into the water. "I've been thinking about it for awhile these last couple of days and I think this is the best choice for everyone."

Sahara chuckled humorlessly. "Do you really think we would be in peace here on the Grand Line?"

"My island is fairly isolated and is far from the eyes of the marines. Anyone with a high bounty should be fairly safe there as long as they don't stir up any trouble," Thomas said.

"You make it sound so easy," Sahara stated.

"It's only a suggesting," Thomas said. "As I said, I haven't even spoken of it to the others."

Sahara said nothing for a couple of minutes. It was the best plan they had and she couldn't think of anything else. She could never go back to the way things were or erase the horrible memory that would hunt her for the rest of her life. She could, however, start over and make the remainder of her life really count. Moping around in despair wouldn't solve anything and would hand Zizu another victory. That was something that she wouldn't allow that bastard to have, even in hell.

"Let's do it," Sahara said, losing all hesitation.

"Pardon?" Thomas questioned as he looked at the former marine.

"Let's talk to the others about your plan," Sahara said further. "We need to find out how many will come with us so we can make the proper arrangements. We also can't stay here too much longer given how close we are to marine headquarters."

"You're suddenly full of spirit," Thomas noted as they both stood up.

"I simply just decided to live," Sahara said. "The past maybe unchangeable, but we're still alive. With what's left of my life, I will live it my own way."

Thomas nodded and gave a small smile. "Then, let's head back to the compound."

With that, they began they a slow track back, both more hopeful about the coming future.

* * *

It was around late afternoon that Luffy finally showed signs of waking up, this time without the nightmares. Zoro had called everyone into the infirmary when Luffy began to stir. Soon, the small crew had surrounded their captain while Ivy respected their privacy and chose to stay on deck as watch. Within twenty minutes after the crew had gathered, Luffy began to slowly open his eyes.

At first, Luffy's focus was fuzzy and he wasn't sure what he was seeing. The light from the sun also hurt his eyes, causing him to blink rapidly for several seconds before they fully adjusted. Once he had regained his senses, he finally noticed his crew was staring down at him. Most of them were smiling while others were given him a concern, critical looks.

"Everyone, what happened? Why am I in bed?" he slurred. It felt like he hadn't used his voice in days and his tongue felt dry and stale. He could also tell by how much his body currently hurt that he had gotten into another big fight. For some reason, however, he couldn't recall who or what he was fighting. Whoever they were, they did a good job beating him up.

The crew looked at each other as if deciding who should be the first to speak.

"Luffy, how much do you remember about the last couple of days?" Nami asked gently.

Luffy furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to recall what had happened. "I remember...a guy with a sword, some lion, and a girl named Ivy. Can't remember much after that."

Nami gave a deep frown. "So, you can't remember."

"It could either be the trauma from the Mind's Eye or a defense mechanism to protect Luffy's mind from further shock," Robin whispered to the other members.

Chopper shook his head. "I feared that there could be some brain damage," he whispered back to the older woman, making sure Luffy couldn't hear him. "I will have to preform a full brain scan to see the extent of the damage."

Luffy narrowed his eyes as he attempted to focus harder on his shattered memories. "There's something else…..master…."

All the Strawhats stared at Luffy in shock for a moment.

"No…not master…..Zizu," Luffy muttered mostly to himself. "We….we promised Ivy to beat some guy named Zizu." He shook his head in confusion. "Why did I call him master?"

He felt a strange loneliness in his own head like something was supposed to be there. Why did his head hurt so much anyway? It felt like something was blocking his memory and he knew that there were several important things he was forgetting.

"It's nothing for you to worry about." Nami said kindly as she stroke Luffy's hair, which unnerved him even more. Nami was never this nice unless something really bad had happened. But, he was still having trouble focusing.

"You must be starving," Sanji said, wanting to change subjects. "Do you want your food now?"

Luffy's eyes immediately lit up at the thought of food and quickly sat up. This proved to be a mistake when it felt a sharp pain shoot through his stomach and he grabbed his midsection. He looked down to see he had several bandages wrapped around his stomach area and he felt strangely stiff. The last time he recalled feeling this way was after his Grandpa had rudely awoken him at Water 7.

Chopper quickly changed into his Heavy Point and gently pushed Luffy back down. "Don't get up so fast. You still have a serious stomach wound and any sudden movements can cause it to reopen again. You also can't eat as much since it could repute your stomach."

Luffy pouted as a thought hit him. "How long have I been out?"

"For the better part of four and a half days," Franky answered bluntly.

Luffy's eyes widened in shock. "What, I missed 22.5 meals!?"

Franky was taken back by his math. Luffy was completely correct. He didn't even bother to round the number off.

"Maybe so, but you can't eat that amount all at once," Chopper said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

"Should you examine Luffy first?" Robin asked.

"I can do it after dinner," Chopper assured. "Since Luffy has gone days without eating properly, he needs nutrition first and foremost."

"Should Luffy eat here or in the kitchen?" Nami asked the young doctor.

Chopper paused in thought. "I see no danger in moving him as long as we're gentle."

Luffy frowned at them. He never liked when his crew baby him. "I can walk just fine."

To prove his point, he knocked off the covers and attempted to stand. A wave of dizziness, however, suddenly hit him and he went tumbling towards the floor. Before he could completely fall, Usopp quickly caught him.

"Easy there, Luffy," Usopp said as he straightened his captain. "You have nothing to prove."

Once the dizziness had passed Luffy looked up and had a better view of Usopp's face. It was black, blue, and partly swollen. He could also see that Usopp's nose had been broken and only now starting to really heal.

"Usopp, what happened to you!?" Luffy exclaimed in horror. "Who did this!? Was it Zizu!? I'll kick his ass!"

The entire room went into a very uncomfortable silence.

"It's okay, we have already beaten that bastard," Sanji said in a calm voice. It was for the most part true.

Luffy's anger quickly vanished as he smiled. Glad that his crewmate has been avenged.

Once everything had settled down, Chopper carried Luffy into the gallery. Sanji prepared the food and Luffy wasted no time digging in with his usual amount of vigor, despite Chopper's protest.

Ivy thought it was a good time to greet the boy captain as she walked into the kitchen. "Glad to see you're feeling well, Strawhat."

"Ivy, how you been?" Luffy asked with a mouthful worth of food.

"Don't speak with your mouth full, moron," Nami scolded out of habit.

"Better," Ivy said as she carefully worded her next sentence. She has been brief about Luffy's lack of memory over the last couple of days. "Thanks to your help, my father and the others were free from Zizu's control."

Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "Strange, but I remembered none of it. And what's this about control?"

Ivy paused, not sure if she should answer that question. She knew Luffy would eventually remember, but she didn't want to break his current happiness.

"I'm sure it will come back to you," Brook said in a cheerful voice as he pulled out his violin. Ivy gave him a grateful look. "How about some music to lighting the mood."

Luffy gave wide grin. "Sounds great!"

Brook laughed as he began to play. For the first time in days, the entire crew felt whole and back to normal. The Strawhats all sat around enjoying the music while Luffy attempted to overstuff himself with food. Chopper attempted to stop Luffy from overeating by wrestling food out of his hands.

About an hour into their little party, Zoro came limping into the gallery and a beeline right for the refrigerator. He didn't originally plan to join the rest of the crew in the kitchen. It was mostly because he couldn't stand to see Luffy in a false sense of bliss, but the festivities eventually lured the stoic swordsman.

"What do you think you're doing, shit head?" Sanji growled when he noticed Zoro going through his supplies.

"Getting some sake," Zoro answered dryly as he pulled out his favorite brew.

"And who gave you permission to go through my stash?" Sanji asked, his temper rising. He knew the cheap booze was Zoro's, but he was the one who paid for the moss head's drinking habit.

"You're not supposed to drank. You're still ill too," Chopper warned, ignoring Sanji's protest.

"My throat is fine. The swelling went down days ago," Zoro answered as he opened the bottle.

"Even still, you shouldn't push yourself," Chopper said as he walked up to the swordsman in an attempt to take the bottle.

Luffy broke away from his food to glanced at Zoro. For some reason, Zoro was completely quiet when he woke up and didn't give him his usual hello after he had awakened from a big battle.

As he stared at Zoro, he noticed faint marks around his neck. It didn't quite looked like rope burns, but they were very similar. It almost looked like Zoro had a giant rubber band wrapped around his neck. But that made no sense.

Without warning, he suddenly had a flash in his mind of Zoro grasping for air and turning blue as the life was squeezed out of him. He heard voices screaming and pleading to someone. Then, he heard a voice in his head encouraging him to kill Zoro.

Luffy grasped in shock at the memory and dropped his folk. This caught everyone's attention as they turned their attention back towards their captain.

"Luffy, is there something wrong?" Robin asked in deep concern.

Luffy, however, was beyond listening to her. He remembered Usopp and how he plummeted the sniper after a clever sneak attack on his part. He felt and heard his bones break and saw blood spill from his mouth as he fell lifelessly to the floor. He then remembered picking up his foot with the full intention of killing his best friend.

He shivered as he saw himself catching Nami's Clima-Tact and throwing it back at her and how it nearly took her head off. He also recalled how he nearly choked her to death as she gave him a look for mercy.

He then he saw himself beating Sanji half to death in Gear Second and how he nearly killed Chopper by slamming his head into the stone road. Finally, he could see himself using both his Gears in an attempt to kill his entire crew all at once. More and more memories came to him and he felt himself getting sick.

A burning pain sheered through his head as remembered his cruel words he spoke to his crew and Zizu's other slaves.

" _Thomas, Sahara, Timber…..they're the weak ones. They're the ones who've failed to properly serve our master. They deserve to die,"_ he remembered saying once Zizu had fully entered his mind.

 _"You're all weak. If any of you were real pirates, you would have cut through him,"_ he mocked his crew as he attempted to break Zoro's neck.

"Luffy, are you alright!?" Chopper yelled in worry. Luffy's eyes were becoming unfocused and he had grown extremely pale. Chopper thought that Luffy had reopened his stomach wound by eating too much, but saw no blood from the bandages.

"What's wrong with him?" Franky asked Chopper.

Chopper shook his head. "I'm not sure. We should..."

"I did this," Luffy suddenly whispered, cutting off Chopper.

"Luffy?" Nami questioned softly.

"Zoro's neck, Usopp's bruises, Ivy's wrist, Sanji's broken ribs...I did all of that, didn't I," Luffy said as he shook in shock. It wasn't even a question. It was a statement of fact.

All the Strawhats looked at each other, not sure what to say.

It was Zoro who finally decided to speak the truth. "Yes, you did."

At that moment, it was like the entire world was knocked off from under Luffy's feet. He felt numb and wasn't sure how to react. Now he understood why he felt an emptiness inside his own head. The voice that was missing from his mind was his….Zizu's voice.

"None of it was your fault," Usopp insisted. "That guy Zizu was controlling you."

Now he remembered, Zizu had broken into his mind when he went to the village the first time. He remembered doing Zizu's bidding and fighting his entire crew. He remembered the pure joy he felt serving Zizu and the delight he felt at the thought of becoming Zizu's right hand. The things he did and said to his crew were enough to make him what to scream in anguish.

"No," Luffy tried to deny his memories, not listening to Usopp. "I...I could never...I could never harm my crew..."

"And you didn't," Nami said as she put both her hands on Luffy's shoulders. "You didn't want to fight us, you were force to."

"No, no, but I should had..." Luffy felt sick to his stomach and the shock of recent events were too much for his already weakened body.

Chopper immediately recognized the signs Luffy was showing. He quickly picked Luffy up and then rushed him up onto the deck to put his head over the side. It wasn't a moment too soon as Luffy threw up everything he had eating in the last hour. It was very violent and Luffy trembled in exhausting once he began to give dry heaves.

Chopper gently pat his captain's back as Luffy finished emptying his stomach. Chopper then laid Luffy on the deck once he knew he was finished. All the Strawhats had followed the duo out and waited until everything had settled down before approaching them.

"Luffy..." Nami started, but the words died on her lips.

"I did all of this..." Luffy muttered, unable to look at any of them. "I hurt my crew."

"You didn't have a choice," Ivy said firmly. "You were another victim of Zizu."

Luffy began to sob. "But...I should had been...I wasn't strong enough to fight him. I...I let him use me..." The way he nearly murdered his crew kept playing in his mind. He turned his back on everything, even his own hat and his promise. He had betrayed everyone.

"Dammit Luffy, it wasn't your fault!" Zoro shouted harshly.

"You're not helping, moss head," Sanji growled in frustration.

"Shut it, eyebrow!" Zoro snapped.

"Quiet, both of you!" Nami yelled, bring ordered back to the ship. "This isn't helping Luffy."

Robin walked over to her captain and gently patted his shoulder. "None of us blame you for what had happened. We are safe and no one was killed. That is what matters."

"No it isn't!" Luffy snapped at the archaeologist as he harshly slapped her hand away and stood up.

"Luffy, you shouldn't move," Chopper said as he attempted to grab Luffy.

Luffy responded by pushing Chopper, knocking him to the floor. "What kind of captain hurts their crew!? I should have fought him! I should have been able to stop myself! I did everything mast….Zizu told me and enjoyed it! I wanted him to succeed! I wanted to served him! I meant every nasty thing I said! I...I failed," he moaned the last part.

Zoro finally had enough. He went up to Luffy and slapped him hard across the face, knocking him over.

"Zoro!" Nami exclaimed in shock. She had never seen Zoro strike Luffy, even in his most stupid moments.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Zoro yelled harshly as rage built within him. "None of this is your fault!"

Luffy just stared at Zoro, his actions and words had no effect on the boy captain. He was too lost within his own self-pity to hear anything else. Instead of reacting to Zoro, Luffy continued laid on the lawn softly crying.

"Luffy-san," Brook whispered as he began to walk towards his captain in an effort to comfort him.

Franky put his arm out and stopped the musician from moving closer. He knew that Luffy was currently beyond their reach.

"Luffy, let's go back to the infirmary," Chopper advised softly when he saw Luffy's now wet bandages. He could also tell that Luffy was beginning to go into shock. "I need check your wounds."

Luffy didn't protest as he allowed himself to be lifted off the deck by Chopper and carried into the infirmary. The rest of the crew could only stare at them as they disappeared behind closed doors.

"Dammit, I knew Luffy would be like this once he remember," Usopp said in both anger and sadness. He too was closed to tears. "There must be a way to show him that none of us blame him."

"Luffy knows we do not blame him for his actions," Robin said in a somber tone. "He is, however, unable to lift blame from himself. As the captain, he feels it is his duty to protect us. By Zizu forcing him to fight and nearly kill us, it went against everything Luffy is. That is not something anyone can just get over." She secretly feared that Luffy might never recover.

"What can we do?" Franky asked almost desperately. He somehow picked up on Robin's unsaid fear.

Robin shook her head. "There is not much we can do except support him until he gets over this."

"I can't even imagine what he must be going through. To have his mind twisted to the point where he enjoyed his actions would destroy anyone," Ivy said softly as she thought of her father.

"Damn that Zizu!" Zoro growled as he slammed his hand against the railing, nearly breaking it. Now he really wished that bastard wasn't dead. He wanted to take him apart personally piece by piece and give him a sample of Luffy's pain.

Sanji gave a loud sighed as he lit another cigarette. "If Luffy is unable to hold down solid food, I need to fix him some soup." He then left to do his task. Cooking would also keep his mind off the miserable subject.

The rest of the day passed slowly and the cheerful mood from earlier had all but disappeared. Brook started to play more somber songs, unable to play any of his more cheerful tones given the current mood.

Zoro attempted several times to enter the infirmary, but Chopper wouldn't allow it. It seemed Luffy had the most violet reaction upon seeing Zoro, given that he came the closest to killing him compare to any of the other Strawhats. The words he had spoke during that incident also made things worst.

Zoro finally gave up after the tenth failed attempt and settled with sitting by the mast and staring at the infirmary's door like some kind of watchdog. Everyone else attempted to go back to their daily routines, but it was all forced and halfhearted.

Sanji kept his promise and made Luffy soup with bits of meat in it. Even that, however, had to be practically forced down Luffy's throat. He had withdrawn so far within himself that he actually refused to eat. He also didn't speak since his breakdown on the deck.

Chopper used this time to scan Luffy's brain and make sure that there wasn't any mental damaged. He found Luffy's brainwaves to be somewhat unstable, but there was nothing too abnormal. The instability of his captain's mental state could easily be caused by depression rather than anything the Mind Eye's directly done.

That still, however, did little to comfort Chopper as he watched his captain become a shell of himself. He looked nothing like the man he was just a few days ago. He was reduced to a scare boy, unable to look Chopper in the eye while he examined him. Chopper tried to remain professional during those moments, but even he could barely control his tears.

Even Ivy was affected by the crew's mood as she sulked on the edge of one of the rails. It didn't helped that she hadn't seen or heard from her father in nearly five days. She contemplated getting off the ship and search for him, but she continued to take Timber's advised and gave her father some time to clear his head. He was undoubtedly going through the same pain and confusion as Strawhat, if not more so. They both had suffered too much.

Just when she was about to called it a night, she caught a shadowy figure heading towards the ship. She took out one of her knives and quickly alerted the rest of the crew. Within seconds, everyone was on guard and ready to defend themselves if their visitor was hostile.

Once the intruder got close enough to the ship, Ivy could clearly see whom it was. "Father!"

Thomas nodded and gave his daughter a small smile. "Hello Ivy, sorry it took me so long."

The tensity quickly dropped and the ladder was lowered to allowed Thomas on board.

"Strawhats, I didn't get a chance to properly thank all of you for what you have done," Thomas said as he gave a deep bow to the entire crew. "You have my eternal gratitude for saving me and for protecting my daughter."

"It was no problem," Sanji said casually as he blew some smoke. "But the person you really need to be thanking is our captain."

"I will do that, but first I wanted to tell you what will become of the people you saved here," Thomas said.

"Father, you have a plan?" Ivy asked hopefully.

"I discuss it with the others and we will be returning to our home island," Thomas stated. "From there, we will rebuild and start new lives safe from the eyes of the government."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Nami asked. "Most of the people who were under Zizu's spell were wanted pirates."

Thomas nodded. "I'm aware of that, but our common experience has long since destroyed the lines between everyday people, marines, and pirates. Many former pirates have lost their love for blood and glory and just want to live out the rest of their lives in peace."

"I guess we can't blame them given what had happened to them," Usopp said, thinking about the shape Luffy was currently in. His mind wondered to a horrible thought that Luffy might give up on his own dream.

Thomas turned towards his daughter. "Ivy, I know it is impossible for you to ever forgive me for what I've done to you. But, if you allow me, I wish for you to come with us. If not I..."

He was stopped in mid-sentence when Ivy suddenly gave him a big hug. "I've already forgiven you father. I never blamed you, not even when you killed my mother."

Thomas' eyes became moist as he returned his daughter's hug. "I will make up for everything, I swear to you. I'll make you proud of me again."

"Don't you understand," Ivy said more forcibly then she meant to. "Nothing you did was your fault! Don't let what Zizu made you do rule your life."

Thomas nodded as he fought the tears building in his eyes. "I know, but it's very hard. I have a lot of blood on my hands, but I will work everyday of my life making sure that those people didn't die in vain." He then turned towards the Strawhats. "If you will permit, I wished to speak to your captain now."

Zoro frowned as he thought of Luffy's current condition. "I'm not sure how much luck you will have. Our captain has fallen into a depression after he remembered what had happened." He lowered his eyes for a moment. "Nothing we say to has gotten through to him."

Thomas lowered his head. "I know all too well what he's going through. But I still would like to talk to him."

"I'll get him," Nami said as she ran towards the infirmary. It took almost thirty minutes, but eventually Luffy came out, heavily supported by Chopper.

Luffy's eyes widened for a moment when he saw Thomas. "You're the sword guy from the village."

Thomas nodded. "Yes and like you, I was also enslaved by Zizu."

Luffy nodded, before his eyes became downcast. "I remember...I remember you guys talking about that while playing cards." He felt vile built in his throat as he remembered how he wanted to kill Thomas and replace him. He actually came closed to crushing his skull.

"I just wanted to say that we all owe you, Strawhat," Thomas said as if feeling Luffy's pain. "Without you, we all would still be under Zizu's rule and forced to go on that mission that would had undoubtedly killed all of us. Now, we finally have a chance to live our own lives again."

Luffy lowered his head. "I didn't do anything. I tried to kill you, remember?"

"And I tried to kill Timber just a moment before that," Thomas said. "Regardless, you fought him. You fought him and won. In all our years, we never could raise a finger to Zizu."

"But...if I was stronger...I could of..." Luffy tried to say as he attempted to control the sobs that were rising from his throat.

"Strawhat, when I was under Zizu's control, I was forced to murder everyone I knew," Thomas said as he held back his own emotions. "My childhood friends, children I helped raised, even my own wife. Did you know I killed her by slicing off her head."

Luffy flinched in horror. Ivy looked away, not wanting to remember how she found her mother after that terrible day. The other Strawhats also recoiled in disgust as they visualized the pandemonium.

"When I did the deed, I enjoyed it," Thomas admitted, stunning Ivy. "Through the mental link I had with Zizu, he praised me as I slaughtered my people and I ate it up. Nothing felt better than making ma…Zizu happy. Even dying at Mariejois was a high honor."

"Thomas…." Luffy whispered.

"You attacked your crew and nearly murdered them. I can understand your guilt and the self-loathing that feels like your soul is being torn apart," Thomas continued as his voice grew softer. "But your crew is still alive, none of my love ones, saved my daughter, are. You still have the chance to make things right."

Luffy was silent as he looked at Thomas. Seeing him like this helped put his own grief into perspective.

"I'm not saying that my pain is greater than yours, but you should remember that it could have been much worst," Thomas paused for a moment before he continued. "Several members of your crew should have died during your battle. Do you know why that outcome didn't happened?"

"Because me crew's strong," Luffy answered with no hesitation.

This caused several of the Strawhats to blushed.

Thomas chuckled softly. "Yes they are, but it wasn't their strength alone that saved them. Whether you did it consciously or not you curved your attacks during that battle."

Luffy's eyes widened in shock.

"Curved his attacks?" Usopp questioned for the rest of the crew.

"Each time he disable one of you he didn't follow up and finished that person off. As your captain, he would have known that you would have kept getting back up and protecting one another to your last breathed. But not only did he not he finished off any of your injured, but he actively only attacked people who could defend themselves," Thomas said that last part while glancing at Nami.

Nami grasped in shock. He was right. Luffy never once during the battle targeted her. The one time he did was to defend himself. Luffy must had known that she was no threat to him, but killing her would have been a huge morale blow to the entire crew.

Brook looked towards his injured fellow swordsman. "But looked what he did to Zoro."

Zoro gave Brook a death glared for bring up his injuries.

"By all accounts, Strawhat should have snapped his neck instantly," Thomas stated. "He had no reason to prolong the process and allowed your sniper to sneak behind him. His actions may have been subtle, but your captain wanted to lose that fight. If he really went in with the full intention of killing all of you, at least half of you should be dead."

The Strawhats looked at one another as Thomas' words sank in. It was hard to believe with all the injures they had collected that Luffy was holding back. Now that they thought about it, however, it made all too much sense. When Luffy combined both his gears they had all somehow survive with only minor damage. That attack alone should had killed most of them.

Zoro smiled proudly as he looked towards Luffy, whom eyes were downcast with unshed tears. He knew he felt Luffy resisting Zizu's control the entire time. His captain was a fighter and he fought that bastard to the very end.

Thomas turned to face his daughter. "We should be setting sail within the next couple of days." He then turned to leave.

"Thomas!" Luffy suddenly called, gaining the older man's attention. He then looked up and gave a small, but sincere smile. "Thank you."

Thomas returned the smile. "No, thank you, Strawhat." With that, he jumped off the ship and disappeared into the forest.


	20. Until We Meet Again

After the talk with Thomas, Luffy started to show signs that he was beginning to recover from his ordeal. The biggest sign came the next morning when Luffy's appetite returned and he attempted to eat everything at the table, much to Chopper's horror. The young doctor was still concern that his stomach injury would reopen.

Everyone else, however, was happy about Luffy's shift in mood. They knew from the circles around his eyes and the way he looked at all of them that he was still-hunted by what he had done. It was a start, however, and they were all grateful to Thomas for what he had done.

"Chopper, is Luffy well enough to play a game?" Usopp asked, knowing a day of play would really help lift Luffy's spirits.

"It can't be anything too stressful," Chopper cautioned.

"Aw Chopper, you're no fun," Luffy pouted.

Usopp smirked. "Don't worry. I know plenty of indoor games."

"It better not be anything that will cause me money," Nami warned as she glared at the sniper. She recalled how their last 'indoor' game ended with hole in the floor and a crack wall.

"I've already promise we would never play that game again," Usopp defended.

"Before I forget, I think you may had forgotten something," Sanji said as he slammed the strawhat on Luffy's head.

Luffy's eyes lit up as he took the hat off to look at it. "Hat, I thought I've lost you!"

As he said that, he was flooded with memories of him turning his back on his treasure and dream. He even mocked his own dream as he turned away to attack his crew. It sent a wave of fear, anger, and sadness that anything could have made him abandoned his promise to Shanks. Then again, he didn't think anything could make him turn against his crew. He did many things he thought he would never do.

He almost felt unworthy to have his hat. He, however, fought the feeling. He wouldn't let mas…Zizu rule. He gritted in annoyance at his mental slip. Why did he keep thinking of Zizu as his master?

Everyone paused as they noticed Luffy's changed in mood. They weren't sure what to say, so it was better for Luffy to make the first move.

Luffy tore his eyes from his hat and smile at the cook. "Thank you for taking care of it, Sanji."

Sanji smiled and nodded. "No problem. Just be more careful next time."

Nami gave a slight frowned when she noticed the burn marks that were visible on the strawhat. "I can repair it a little later if you like."

"Oh, thanks Nami," Luffy said cheerfully.

"So, when should we leave this island?" Zoro asked as he finished his drink. He didn't want to spend another minute in this cursed place.

"Didn't Ivy say that she and the others would try to leave today?" Franky asked.

"That's the plan," Nami stated. "This place is too dangerous and we've been here for almost a week."

Robin leaned against the table in thought. "I wonder what is the big incident that got all the marines gathering to this area?" If the World Government was planning a big operation, it could not be anything good.

"Who cares, it doesn't involve us," Zoro answered bluntly.

"Don't be rude, moss head," Sanji sneered as he lightly kicked the chair, nearly knocking Zoro over.

"Watch it, dart board!" Zoro yelled.

"Don't start," Nami warned firmly. Although, a part of her was happy that things really were starting to go back to normal.

"We'll leave at the same time as Ivy and them," Luffy suddenly said, stopping all conversation.

"Are you sure about that?" Franky asked. "You're still hurt."

"That's right. We should wait at least another day," Chopper said in concern.

Luffy began to chuckle. "My wounds are fine and besides, Chopper is the best doctor in the world. He can take care of me."

Chopper began to blush before he started to dance around in joy. "Jackass, you don't make me happy with your words!"

Brook shook his head as he sipped his tea. "That's still strange."

"Like you can talk," Nami muttered to herself.

"Are you sure you will be okay to leave, Luffy?" Robin asked. "I do not mean just physically."

Luffy was silent for a moment. "I….I'll be okay. I just need to get away from here and get back to sea."

Robin nodded her head in understanding.

"Do you know what time they're leaving?" Luffy asked, getting back on subject.

"I believe it is around late afternoon," Robin informed.

Luffy nodded as he finished his breakfast. "Then, we should be ready to head out around that same time."

The rest of the day passed in a blur and Luffy was allowed to play outside as long as he didn't run around. Usopp amused the boy and the doctor with magic tricks that he brought from a store in Water 7. They were all very simple, novice tricks like making a belli disappear, pulling a coin from behind their ears, and somehow cutting that same belli in half and putting it back together again like nothing had happened. As simple as they were, it got both Luffy and Chopper clapping in amusement.

Nami mostly rolled her eyes at the antics, but said nothing of them. Robin was more amused and secretly watched the entire activity while pretending to be reading as usual.

"Hey, guys!" Ivy yelled as she waved below the ship.

Luffy rushed to the railing to see their new friend. "Ivy, welcome back!"

The ladder was dropped for her and she quickly climbed aboard. "I just came to tell you that we should be shipping out within the hour."

"Oh, you're leaving already?" Luffy questioned. "But I wanted to see you guys off."

Ivy smiled. "Well, that's why I'm here. If you're up to it, I will take you to our location."

"Who will watch the ship?" Franky asked.

"It should be safe," Ivy assured. "We overlooked the entire island and we saw no enemy ships in sight. Which is why we chose to leave now before some random person finds this place."

"Well, let's go!" Luffy exclaimed as he stood up. A sharp jolt of pain reminder the rubberman of his injuries, nearly toppling him over.

Zoro easily caught his captain and lifted him up until he was carrying Luffy on his back.

"Zoro, you're still hurt too!" Chopper stated firmly.

Zoro shook off the reindeer's concerns. "Don't worry about it. Luffy isn't heavy." Despite all of Luffy's power and how much he ate, the boy was quite light for his size. Robin could probably carry him with ease even without her powers.

Once they were off Sunny, it wasn't a long walk until they reached another shoreline about twenty minutes away from their ship. Docked on the shore was a large Galley that could have held the Thousand Sunny at least three times over. It looked more old fashion that most other ships they've seen on the Grand Line and it had the figurehead of two dragon-like creatures. Overall, it was quite a sight.

"Well, I say this about Zizu, he has great taste in ships," Franky said as he looked over the galley. "They don't build them like this now of days."

"Strawhats, glad you could make it," Timber greeted. He was carrying a box onboard the ship.

"Timber, you're going with them?" Luffy asked in mild surprise.

"Hey, don't think I've gone soft and retire from the seas," Timber said with a huge grin. "I'm only going to get everything setup for these guys and then, I'm back to causing terror."

"Sure you are, you big softy," Sahara teased as she walked over to the Strawhats. "I...I owe you more than you will ever know. You gave me back my life and have given me the chance to redeem myself. For that, I'm forever in your debt." She then bowed before the Strawhats.

"The honor was all ours, Miss Sahara," Brook said as he grabbed her hand and looked deep into her eyes. "If you truly want to thank us, please allow me to see your panties."

Sahara was taken off-guard by the request.

Nami immediately slapped the skeleton swordsman upside his head. "That's no way to pay back a debt!"

Timber laughed out loud. "Can't fault him for trying."

"I swear," Nami muttered before she turned towards Sahara. "Sorry about that. We actually take gold and jewelry as payment. So, any treasure Zizu had will due."

"She's up to her old tricks again," Usopp muttered.

"That greedy witch will never change," Zoro added, causing Luffy to chuckle.

"I would spare some, but I'm afraid we need most of that money to repair Thomas' island," Sahara informed with a look of regret.

Nami sunk down in depression. As must as she loved money, it felt like kicking a kitten to take away anything they may need to start their new lives. Also, even if she would never admit it out loud, these people deserved the money more than any of them. After being enslaved for years, this was the least Zizu owed them.

Luffy looked up to see Caisco walking towards them. "Hey, Caisco!"

Caisco turned to face the boy captain. "Strawhat."

"Aren't you going to continue to be a pirate like Timber?" Luffy asked.

Caisco turned away from him. "I put my pirating days behind me when I left the New World. My crew had disbanded even before I met with Zizu."

"Did the New World forced you into retirement?" Franky asked. It was kind of scary to think that a powerful person like Caisco could be brought to his knees in any sea.

"I would be lying if I say it wasn't part of it," Caisco said. "However, I mostly grown tired of the harsh life of being a pirate. A New Age is coming and it is an era for the young."

"You make yourself sound like an old man," Sahara stated with a note of humor. "You're only in your mild forties."

"In these seas I am an old man. Besides, I started to sail years before this Great Pirate Era came into being," Caisco said. "That's more than enough for one lifetime."

Timber began to laugh as he turned back towards the Strawhats. "Maybe after a couple of years of mellowing out, he may actually grow a personality."

Luffy laughed at that.

"Strawhat," Caisco interrupted. "You plan to head straight to the New World from here, correct."

Luffy nodded. "Of course. My goal is to be the Pirate King."

"I will never understand a pirate's need to be call such a title, but it's a better dream than most," Caisco said. "I would ask you to think carefully before continuing, but I know it would fell on deaf ears."

"What do you mean, sir?" Brook asked.

"The New World is nothing like any seas you've sailed before," Caisco said in a far-off voice. "If you're caught unaware, it will shallow you whole and leave you with nothing."

Sanji paused in his smoking as he remembered Moriah's words before he was defeated by Luffy.

"I would ask you to wait and gain more experience before going forward, but it isn't my place to give such advise," Caisco continued. "Truth of the matter, I waited too long to go into the New World and by the time I did go, I was already passed my prime and unfit to continue. I only asked you to be cautious and don't take that sea lightly."

Luffy smiled and nodded. "I will."

"We should move out while we still have the sun," Caisco said as he went to board the ship.

"Stick in the mud until the end," Timber said. "Well, see you around Strawhats. Maybe we'll meet again." He then followed after Caisco.

Sahara turned to face them one last time. "I don't condone piracy and think it's a dead end life. But I wish you lucked. I just hope you don't end up like other scum bag pirates that I had to deal with over the years." With that, she left too.

"Ivy, where's your father?" Luffy asked.

"He's by the ship looking over the supplies," Ivy said as she led the group towards the swordsman.

Thomas was by the ladder of the ship, waiting for them. "Ivy, we shipping out in a few minutes. Please, get on board."

Ivy nodded as she turned towards the Strawhats one last time. "Thank you again for everything. If you ever need anything, I hope you will give us a call."

Sanji spun over towards Ivy. "I will miss you forever, Ivy-san! I hope we can meet again."

"Shove it, love cook," Zoro said in annoyance.

Sanji stopped his flirting and walked over towards Zoro. "Say that again, shitty swordsman."

"You heard me the first time, swirls," Zoro mocked.

Ivy chuckled at the interaction. This crew was strange and mess up, but they had strangely grown on her. They were definitely like no other pirate crew she had ever encountered. She wouldn't, however, take them any other way.

"Farewell, Ivy," Robin said politely. "I hope things work out for the best."

Ivy nodded. "Thank you, everyone." She then climbed the ladder to the ship.

Thomas nodded. "I said my thanks on your ship, but needless to say, you have made some lifelong friends here."

"Thomas..." Luffy started.

The older man looked Luffy straight in the eye. At that moment, everything that needed to be said was passed between the two men. "I don't believe in goodbyes, so how about a simple, see you later."

Luffy laughed. "I don't believe in goodbyes either. I know we're meet again."

Thomas smirked. "I pray you achieve your dream someday, Luffy."

With those words, the final person was finally onboard the ship and the former servants of Zizu shipped off to a new beginning.

The Strawhats stood on the shore and waved off their new friends. Despite the small size of the crew, everyone onboard the ship could hear them until they could no longer be seen.

Luffy smiled as he watched the ship carrying his new friends disappear over the horizon. It was a strange friendship built off the same terrible experience that he would never wish on anyone and the scars of it may never fully heal. But he still had his crew and that was more than enough to get him passed this.

"Okay, let's go to our next adventure!" Luffy exclaimed to his crew, who were awaiting his orders.

They all smiled, happy to see Luffy's spirit returned full force. "Aye, captain!"

With that, the small pirate crew disappeared into the forest, silently pledging never to return to the island.

**Author's Note:**

> And done. Sorry that it wasn't very long, but there wasn't too much to say in the end.
> 
> Until next time, thanks for reading.


End file.
